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LIBRARY 

©heolofliciit   J^cminavju 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


BT  1210 

.P73 

\ 

Plumer , 

William 

S. 

1802- 

1880. 

The  Bibl 

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THE 


BIBLE  TRUE, 


INFIDELITY   WICKED 


BY  WM.  S.  PLUMER,  D.  D. 


PUBLISHED    BY    THE 

AMERICAN   TRACT   SOCIETY 

150   NASSAU-STREET,    NEW    YORK. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/bibletrueinfidelOOplum 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


Nothing  strictly  new  can  be  pertinently  said  on  the 
subject  of  this  little  treatise.  The  reader  will  not,  there- 
fore, expect  originality.  All  that  has  been  attempted  is 
to  group  together  the  most  important  truths  on  the  subject 
in  a  form  more  condensed  than  usual.  The  author  has 
not  written  for  the  learned.  It  would  have  been  much 
easier  to  satisfy  himself  with  a  more  extended  discussion 
of  every  topic ;  but  such  a  course  would  have  been  fatal 
to  his  chief  object,  which  was,  to  furnish  plain  people, 
who  have  not  much  leisure,  with  a  brief  manual  in  a 
popular  form.  Such  as  it  is,  it  is  commended  to  God, 
whose  blessing  alone  can  make  it  useful. 


CONTENTS 


PACK. 

General  observations, 7 

The  right  spirit  necessary, 7 

Right  use  of  reason,     .......  8 

The  human  mind  weak, 9 

Different  kinds  of  proof, 11 

A  mystery  not  a  contradiction,          ....  12 

The  Bible  or  nothing, 13 

Our  Scriptures  genuine, 14 

The  Septuagint,           19 

Testimony  of  opposing  sects, 20 

A  Revelation  reasonable, 21 

Why  were  the  Scriptures  received  as  divine?     .         .  22 

Miracles, 23 

Miracles  prove  a  revelation, 27 

Mohammed,         ........  28 

Popish  miracles, 29 

Prophecy, 29 

Universal  empires, 31 

Cyrus, 31 

Tyre, 32 

The  Arabs, .  32 

Christ, 32 

Jerusalem, 33 

The  Jews, 33 

Bible  True.  1 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


Collateral  Proofs,       .... 

The  Bible  makes  men  better,    . 

The  Bible  comforts,     .... 

Voltaire  and  Halyburton, 

Gibbon  and  Paul,         . 

The  argument  cumulative, 
Scientific  objections,     .... 

Astronomy, 

Geology, 

The  Causes  of  Infidelity, 

Men  do  not  gather  grapes  from  thorns, 

Sinful  ignorance,      .... 

Bad  temper  of  infidels, 

Pride,  especially  of  learning,     . 

Singularity,  ..... 

Health  and  prosperity, 

Covetousness,       . 

General  licentiousness, 

Ambition, 

Lewdness, 

Depraved  principles,     .... 

Want  of  the  love  of  truth, 

A  general  inference,    .... 
Infidelity  worthless,  destructive,     . 

A  case,        

France, 

Deaths  of  infidels,        .... 

The  dying  sceptic  and  the  dying  Christian, 
Remarks, 


.  35 

36 

.  37 

38 
.  40 

42 
.  43 

43 
.  47 

52 
.  53 

54 
.  55 

57 
.  58 

60 
.  61 

61 
.  63 

64 
.  64 

65 
.  69 

69 
.  71 

72 
.  73 

76 
.  77 


THE  BIBLE  TRUE 


GENERAL   OBSERVATIONS. 

IN  WHAT  SPIRIT  SHOULD  THE  SUBJECT  BE  STUDIED  1 

To  satisfy  the  captious,  to  teach  the  wayward,  to 
persuade  the  stubborn,  and  to  please  the  malignant, 
are  four  impossible  things.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
is  easy  to  teach  the  docile,  to  satisfy  the  candid,  to 
guide  the  meek,  and  to  solve  honest  doubts.  In  all 
investigations  of  truth,  he,  whose  state  of  mind  is 
best,  will  make  the  most  progress.  "  A  word  enter- 
eth  more  into  a  wise  man  than  a  hundred  stripes  into 
a  fool."  We  should  not  be  surprised,  therefore, 
when  we  find  in  religious  inquiries  the  same  variety 
and  diversity  of  results,  which  are  seen  in  the  char- 
acter of  those  who  make  them.  "  Temper  is  every 
thing,"  is  a  saying  as  true  in  religion  as  in  any  thing 
else.  Neither  the  kingdom  of  science,  nor  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  is  open  to  those  who  have  not  the 
spirit  of  a  little  child.  God  reveals  to  babes,  who 
are  willinq-  to  learn,  things,  of  which  the  wise  and 
prudent  remain  ignorant  through  a  haughty  spirit. 
Let  every  man  see  that  his  heart  is  right. 


8  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

RIGHT  USE  OF  REASON. 

The  power  of  reasoning  distinguishes  men  from 
brutes,  and  the  habit  of  reasoning  distinguishes  wise 
men  from  fools. 

The  Bible  never  makes  war  upon  right  reason. 
On  the  contrary,  it  encourages  and  demands  the  best 
exercise  of  all  our  faculties.  We  are,  indeed,  to  use 
our  reason  in  a  lawful  manner,  setting  it  no  impos- 
sible tasks,  and  carefully  distinguishing  between  the 
influence  of  prejudice  or  passion,  and  the  dictates 
of  a  sound  mind.  The  uses  of  reason  in  regard  to 
a  revelation  are  chiefly  these :  to  ascertain  whether 
God  has  given  us  a  revelation ;  and,  if  so,  to  learn 
what  that  revelation  is.  To  inquire  whether  God 
should  make  known  to  us  a  given  matter  does  not 
belong  to  the  province  of  reason ;  for  if  we  knew  be- 
forehand what  ought  to  be  in  the  Bible,  we  did  not 
need  a  revelation.  Indeed,  that  which  is  already 
known  to  a  man,  cannot  be  revealed  to  him.  But 
we  may  ask,  yea,  we  are  bound  to  ask,  Is  the  Bible 
from  God  ?  and,  under  responsibilities  as  solemn  as 
eternity,  our  reason  is  summoned  to  try  that  ques- 
tion. If  we  decide  that  question  affirmatively,  let 
us  then  ask,  What  is  that  revelation  ?  what  does  it 
teach  ?  what  does  it  promise  ?  what  does  it  threaten  ? 
what  does  it  require  ?  In  these  questions  there  is 
full  scope  for  the  exercise  of  all  our  rational  facul- 
ties. 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS.  9 

THE  HUMAN  MIND  WEAK. 

In  prosecuting  these  and  all  inquiries  on  the  sub- 
ject of  religion,  it  is  proper  always  to  remember,  that 
the  human  mind  is  feeble  and  very  liable  to  err,  and 
that  sometimes  "  a  painted  falsehood  in  many  respects 
bears  the  marks  of  high  probability,  and  often  tri- 
umphs over  naked  truth." 

"A  mind  which  has  no  restraint  from  a  sense  of 
its  own  weakness,  of  its  subordinate  rank  in  the  cre- 
ation, and  of  the  extreme  danger  of  letting  the  ima^- 
ination  loose  upon  some  subjects,  may  very  plausibly 
attack  every  thing  the  most  excellent  and  venerable. 
It  would  not  be  difficult  to  criticize  the  creation 
itself,  and  if  we  were  to  examine  the  divine  fabrics 
by  our  ideas  of  reason  and  fitness,  and  to  use  the 
same  method  of  attack  by  which  some  men  have 
assaulted  revealed  religion,  we  might  with  as  good 
color,  and  with  the  same  success,  make  the  wisdom 
and  power  of  God  in  his  creation  appear  to  many 
no  better  than  foolishness.  There  is  an  air  of  plau- 
sibility, which  accompanies  vulgar  reasonings  and 
notions,  taken  from  the  beaten  circle  of  ordinary 
experience,  that  is'admirably  suited  to  the  narrow 
capacities  of  some,  and  to  the  laziness  of  others." 

There  can  be  no  greater  error  than  a  belief  that 
human  reason  is  of  itself  a  sufficient  light  and  guide 
in  religion.  The  history  of  the  world  for  several 
thousand  years  abundantly  demonstrates  this.  All 
the  wisest  of  the  heathen  acknowledged  as  much. 


10  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

Dr.  Young  well  describes  modem  infidels,  when  he 
says,  "  The  sufficiency  of  human  reason  is  the  golden 
calf,  which  these  men  set  up  to  be  worshipped ;  and 
in  the  frenzies  of  their  extravagant  devotion  to  it, 
they  trample  on  venerable  authority,  strike  at  an 
oak  with  an  ozier,  the  doctrine  of  God's  own  plant- 
ing and  the  growth  of  ages,  with  the  sudden  and 
fortuitous  shoots  of  imagination,  abortive  efforts  of 
an  hour." 

Saurin  says  of  such,  "What  surprises  me,  what 
stumbles  me,  what  frightens  me,  is  to  see  a  diminu- 
tive  creature,  a  little  ray  of  light  glimmering  through 
a  few  feeble  organs,  controvert  a  point  with  the 
Supreme  Being  ;  oppose  the  intelligence,  that  sitteth 
at  the  helm  of  the  world  ;  question  what  he  affirms, 
dispute  what  he  determines,  appeal  from  his  decis- 
ions, and,  even  after  God  hath  given  evidence,  reject 
all  doctrines  that  are  beyond  his  capacity.  Enter 
into  thy  nothingness,  mortal  creature  !  What  mad- 
ness animates  thee?  How  darest  thou  pretend, 
thou  who  art  but  a  point,  thou  whose  essence  is  but 
an  atom,  to  measure  thyself  with  the  Supreme  Be- 
ing, with  him  whom  the  heaven*  of  heavens  cannot 
contain?" 

If  the  child  cannot  comprehend  the  wisdom  of  the 
plan  by  which  a  vast  empire  is  governed,  it  is  surely 
no  great  act  of  humility  for  creatures  of  a  day  to 
submit  their  understandings  in  matters  relating  to 
the  government  of  the  universe  and  the  counsels  of 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS.  11 

eternity.  Nothing  is  more  proper  than  that  the 
ignorant  should  be  learners,  and  that  the  blind  should 
have  guides. 


KINDS  OF  PROOF. 

It  is  proper  here,  to  make  a  few  remarks  upon  the 
different  kinds  of  evidence.  Lord  Bacon  says,  "  The 
rigor  and  curiosity  in  requiring  the  more  severe  proofs 
in  some  things,  and  chiefly  the  facility  in  contenting 
ourselves  with  the  more  remiss  proofs  in  others,  have 
been  amongst  the  greatest  causes  of  detriment  and 
hinderance  to  knowledge."  Nothing  is  more  unrea- 
sonable  than  mixing  the  different  kinds  of  evidence. 
Geometry  is  a  beautiful  science,  but  its  very  nature 
confines  it  to  magnitudes.  No  man  can  thereby 
prove  that  Victoria  is  queen,  that  Virgil  wrote  the 
^Eneid,  that  air  and  water  are  compound  substances, 
that  a  murder  was  committed,  or  a  battle  fought. 
So  you  cannot  prove  the  Bible  true  or  untrue,  you 
can  prove  nothing  on  the  subject  of  a  revelation  by 
the  exact  sciences.  There  is,  therefore,  amazinsr 
folly  in  the  objection  that  the  Bible  lacks  a  species 
of  evidence  which  is  found  to  sustain  some  branches 
of  knowledge. 

Whether  the  proof  of  a  truth  be  drawn  from  con- 
sciousness, from  sensation,  from  intuition,  from  de- 
monstration, or  from  testimony,  is  not  to  a  wise  man 
a  matter  of  importance,  provided  it  be  ample  and 
adapted  to  the  nature  of  the  subject.     If  Christian- 


12  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

ity  has  all  its  appropriate  evidences,  we  ought  to  be 
satisfied.  If  we  cannot  by  demonstration  or  intui- 
tion prove  it  true,  yet  if  its  evidences  are  sufficient 
to  satisfy  the  candid,  who  make  war  on  their  sinful 
inclinations,  this  is  sufficient.  Though  you  cast 
pearls  before  swine,  they  will  but  trample  them 
under  their  feet.  Though  you  give  that  which  is 
holy  unto  the  dogs,  they  will  turn  and  rend  you. 
Conviction  from  testimony  is  as  philosophical  and 
proper  as  from  demonstration. 


A  MYSTERY  NOT  A  CONTRADICTION. 

Nor  ought  men  to  complain  when  asked  to  dis- 
tinguish between  a  mystery  and  a  contradiction.  He 
who  believes  in  nothing  which  he  cannot  fully  un- 
derstand, will  certainly  have  a  very  short  creed.  He 
cannot  believe  in  anatomy,  in  animal  life,  in  gravita- 
tion, in  vegetation,  in  electricity,  if  he  refuses  to 
assent  to  the  existence  of  things  mysterious.  God 
himself  is  the  greatest  mystery  in  the  universe,  and 
he  who  rejects  all  mystery,  must  be  an  atheist.  It 
is  our  duty  carefully  to  ask,  not  whether  we  fully 
understand  every  thing  belonging  to  what  we  believe, 
but  whether  the  evidence,  on  which  we  believe  it,  is 
sufficient.  An  objection  drawn  from  mystery  alone 
is  insignificant.  A  religion  free  from  all  mystery 
must  be  a  human  invention. 

But  to  establish  a  contradiction  in  any  matter  is 
to  render  belief  impossible.     No  man  can  believe 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS.  13 

that  a  thing  exists  and  does  not  exist  at  the  same 
time  and  in  the  same  sense,  nor  that  black  is  white, 
nor  that  a  part  is  equal  to  the  whole.  If  the  Scrip- 
tures contained  contradictions,  we  could  not  receive 
them  as  true,  although  in  the  mysteries  of  revelation 
we  may  even  rejoice.  There  is  no  greater  mystery 
than  the  love  of  God  in  giving  his  Son  to  die  for  us. 
We  cannot  give  it  up,  simply  because  it  transcends 
all  human  love  and  comprehension. 


THE  BIBLE  OR  NOTHING. 

Whether  we  receive  the  Bible  or  not,  it  is  clear 
that  if  we  reject  it,  we  have  not  on  earth  any  sys- 
tem of  religion  worthy  of  reception.  If  we  give 
up  the  divinity  of  the  Scriptures,  we  seek  in  vain  to 
affix  the  seal  of  God  to  any  other  form  of  belief  and 
worship,  known  to  men.  If  the  volume,  which  we 
call  the  true  light,  be  a  fiction,  man  is  left  to  grope 
his  way  to  the  judgment-seat  of  God  without  a 
lamp  to  shine  upon  his  path.  This  fact  invests  our 
inquiry  with  the  most  solemn  interest. 

The  trial  of  the  truth  of  the  Bible  is  the  trial  of 
man  for  his  immortal  life,  and  all  his  highest  hopes. 
If  we  give  up  this  book,  there  remains  to  us  nothing 
but  the  blindness  of  superstition  and  imposture,  and 
a  long  series  of  overwhelming  degradations.  It  is 
certainly  a  wild  madness,  which  can  lead  any  one 
to  suppose  that  human  nature  can  ever  be  elevated 
by  proving  it  on  a  level  with  beasts,  by  confounding 

Bible  True.  2 


14  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

good  and  evil,  vice  and  virtue,  by  annihilating  all 
expectation  of  righteous  recompense.  Maniacs  never 
held  a  wilder  sentiment  than  that  piety  was  pro- 
moted by  denying  Providence,  by  shaking  confidence 
in  the  justice,  holiness,  or  goodness  of  God. 

The  moment  men  forsake  the  Bible  they  are  at 
sea  without  a  compass.  If  Christianity  be  a  fiction, 
it  is  infinitely  preferable  to  the  fictions  of  heathen- 
ism, or  the  dogmas  of  that  class  of  modern  writers, 
who  publish  themselves  to  the  world  as  philoso- 
phers. If  Christianity  be  a  fiction,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  it  at  least  breathes  a  very  remarkable 
spirit  of  good-will,  and  produces  an  incalculable 
amount  of  happiness  to  society,  of  quiet  to  the  mind, 
and  of  pleasing  hope  for  the  future.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  sum  of  all  that  infidelity  clearly  teaches 
is  contained  in  this  short  creed,  "  I  believe  in  all 
uncertainty." 

OUR  SCRIPTURES  GENUINE. 
In  an  argument  on  the  subject  of  the  truth  of  the 
Bible,  the  first  question  is,  "  Have  we  the  same 
Scriptures  which  the  early  Christians  had?"  I 
answer  affirmatively,  and  prove  it  just  as  we  prove 
that  any  writing  now  in  our  possession  is  the  same 
that  went  under  the  same  name  in  former  times,  and 
just  as  men,  w,ho  shall  live  1,800  years  hence,  if  the 
world  shall  stand  so  long,  will  prove  that  they  have 
the  same  Bible  that  we  have  now.     Let  a  man  prove 


OUR  SCRIPTURES  GENUINE.  15 

that  we  have  the  Commentaries  of  Caesar,  or  the 
Orations  of  Cicero,  and  not  some  spurious  works 
passing  under  their  names,  and  by  a  thousand-fold 
stronger  evidence  shall  it  be  proven  that  we  have 
the  genuine  epistles  of  Paul,  the  genuine  prophecies 
of  Isaiah,  the  genuine  gospels,  and  other  sacred 
writings  originally  published  by  their  authors. 

One  way  of  proving  that  we  have  the  same  books 
which  bore  a  given  name  in  former  days,  is  by  com- 
paring modern  with  ancient  copies. 

There  lies  before  me  a  work  first  published  in 
A.  D.  1643.  Now,  if  I  should  meet  with  a  new  edi- 
tion of  that  book,  and  should  wish  to  know  whether 
it  were  correct,  I  would  compare  the  last  with  the 
first,  and  form  my  judgment  accordingly.  To  ap- 
ply this  argument,  I  would  observe  that  we  have 
manuscript  copies  of  the  New  Testament,  supposed 
to  be  as  old  as  A.  D.  500.  These  copies  correspond 
in  all  points  of  fact  or  doctrine  with  our  own  Scrip- 
tures. Owing  to  the  wasting  persecutions  which 
took  place  for  the  express  purpose  of  exterminating 
Christianity,  we  have  not  any  copies  of  the  Scrip- 
tures in  the  Greek  lano-ua^e  more  than  about  thir- 
teen  hundred  and  fifty  years  old.  Besides,  the  early 
Christians — and  we  are  following  their  example — 
never  thought  of  depositing  in  some  sacred  and 
secure  place  a  copy  of  the  word  of  God,  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  to  posterity  an  accurate  copy  of 
their  sacred  books.     Indeed,  no  place  intended  as  a 


16  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

depository  of  Christian  monuments  would  have  been 
either  sacred  or  secure.  The  attempt  to  have  made 
it  so  would  have  excited  both  suspicion  and  malig- 
nity. Moreover,  the  art  of  printing  not  having  been 
then  invented,  all  books,  sacred  and  profane,  were 
scarce,  and  all  copies  were  of  necessity  made  out 
in  the  slow  and  expensive  method  of  handwriting. 
Accordingly,  complete  copies  of  the  Scriptures  were 
possessed  only  by  respectable  churches,  and  by  a 
few  rich  or  learned  men. 

Even  down  to  the  time  of  the  invention  of  the  art 
of  printing,  a  complete  copy  of  the  Scriptures  could 
not  be  procured  in  England  at  a  cost  less  than  the 
aggregate  hire  of  a  common  laborer  for  thirteen 
years.  It  is,  then,  no  wonder  that  we  have  not  a 
larger  number  of  ancient  manuscript  copies  of  the 
sacred  writings.  The  wonder  rather  is,  that  we  have 
any. 

The  Bible,  like  the  burning  bush  seen  by  the  pa- 
triarch, has  been  in  the  midst  of  the  fire,  and  has  not 
been  consumed.  Spiritual  and  political  despotisms 
have  summoned  kings  and  cabinets,  armies  and  the 
rabble,  to  extirpate  the  word  of  God.  It  has  often 
been  a  capital  offence  to  be  found  possessing  the 
Bible.  Yet  this  book  has  lived.  Many  very  ancient 
copies  have  come  down  to  us,  and  these  agree  with 
our  Scriptures. 

But  this  is  not  all,  for  in  early  times  the  Scrip- 
tures were  translated  into  different  languages.     Of 


OUR  SCRIPTURES  GENUINE.  17 

these  translations  I  shall  notice  but  one,  namely,  the 
Syriac.  This  translation,  as  learned  men  agree, 
has  been  in  use  in  Syria  ever  since  the  second  cen- 
tury. See  Michaelis.  The  internal  evidence,  the 
traditions  of  the  East,  and  many  very  ancient  manu- 
script copies  found  in  different  places,  establish  for 
it  at/  least  a  very  great  antiquity.  About  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years  ago,  the  Bishop  of  Antioch, 
in  Syria,  sent  a  copy  of  this  translation  into  Europe 
to  be  printed,  and  since  that  time  the  work  is  found 
in  the  library  of  every  clergyman  of  considerable 
learning.  Several  other  translations  have  been  made 
at  different,  though  early  periods  of  the  Christian 
era ;  and  all  of  these  contain  the  history  and  doc- 
trine of  revelation,  in  a  degree  not  equal  indeed  to 
the  original,  but  in  sufficient  accuracy  to  prevent 
fatal  mistake.  Indeed,  the  ancient  translations  will 
well  bear  a  comparison  with  an  equal  number  of 
those  that  are  more  modern.  So  that,  if  we  had  no 
ancient  manuscripts,  and  had  to  depend  for  our 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel  entirely  on  translations, 
we  should  have  as  correct  sources  of  information  as 
the  mere  English  reader  has  of  a  history  of  France, 
originally  written  in  the  language  of  that  country, 
and  carefully  rendered  into  English. 

Furthermore,  all  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment have  been  largely  quoted,  from  early  times 
down  to  the  present,  so  that  if  every  translation  and 
every  copy,  written  and  printed,  ancient  and  mod- 

Bible  True.  ■<• 


18  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

em,  were  entirely  destroyed,  and  all  the  books  which 
have  been  written  for  fifteen  hundred  years  were 
instantly  burned  up,  the  Gospel  would  not  be  lost ; 
for  it  might  be  gathered  from  books  written  within 
three  hundred  years  of  the  ascension  of  our  Saviour. 
This  is  one  of  the  highest  kinds  of  proof  appropriate 
to  such  a  subject.  Three  writers,  living  in  different 
countries,  quote  the  same  sentence  from  an  old  writer 
for  purposes  quite  diverse.  A  man  who  never  saw 
the  original  may  reasonably  believe  that  the  agree- 
ing quotations  are  correctly  made. 

This  is  the  common  practice  of  mankind,  even  in 
the  most  important  matters.  This  kind  of  evidence 
increases  with  the  number  of  quotations,  with  the 
distance  of  time  and  place  at  which  they  were  made, 
and  with  the  variety  and  contrariety  of  object  had  in 
view  by  those  who  made  them.  Our  Scriptures 
have  been  quoted  not  only  by  three,  but  by  many 
writers,  at  different  times,  for  different  purposes, 
some  friendly,  some  hostile.  These  quotations  con- 
tain the  same  things  in  substance.  We  can  be  at 
no  loss  for  the  substance  of  the  (rospel. 

Numerous  commentaries  on  the  Scriptures,  har- 
monies of  their  contents,  and  catalogues  of  them, 
similar  to  those  found  in  modern  authors,  were 
early  written  and  published.  These  constitute  a 
mass  of  evidence,  which  it  requires  indeed  learning 
and  candor  duly  to  estimate ;  but  which,  when 
properly  weighed,  gives  an  overwhelming  force  to 


OUR  SCRIPTURES  GENUINE.  19 

the  argument  for  the  genuineness  of  the  sacred  writ- 
ings. 

As  to  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  dwell  on  the  proofs  of  their  genuine- 
ness. It  is  sufficient  to  state,  that  all  history  repre- 
sents the  Jews  as  exceedingly  careful  in  correctly 
preserving  the  sacred  text.  When  a  copy  was  made 
out,  not  only  the  number  of  words,  but  even  the 
num.ber  of  letters  in  it  was  counted,  and  compared 
with  the  original,  in  order  to  prevent  mistake. 


THE  SEPTUAGINT. 

It  is  proper  also  to  state,  that  the  Jewish  Scrip- 
tures were  translated  into  Greek  about  two  hundred 
and  eighty- eight  years  before  Christ,  by  order  of 
that  great  patron  of  learning  and  of  commerce, 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  king  of  Egypt;  that  the 
work  was  executed  with  great  care ;  that  when  com- 
pleted, it  was  deposited  in  the  largest  library  then 
in  the  world,  the  Alexandrian;  that  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  apostles  quoted  this  translation  ;  and  that  it 
corresponds  with  our  copies  of  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures as  nearly  as  any  translation  commonly  does 
with  the  original.  This  work,  called  the  Septuagint, 
'has  ever  since  been  in  the  possession  of  scholars,  and 
is  highly  esteemed  by  learned  men ;  so  that  if  we 
had  no  Hebrew  Bible,  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures 
would  not  be  lost. 


20  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

TESTIMONY  OF  OPPOSING  SECTS. 

Before  and  since  the  coming  of  Christ,  there  were 
true  and  false  teachers,  and  various  controvertists 
and  sects,  widely  differing  from  each  other.  And 
yet  Pharisees,  Sadducees,  and  Essenes,  quoted  the 
same  copy  of  the  Scriptures.  Since  the  coming  of 
Christ,  the  Jews  and  Christians,  who  differ  on  the 
Messiahship  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  doctrine  con- 
fessed on  both  hands  to  be  fundamental  to  Jheir 
respective  systems,  do  still  read,  study,  and  quote 
the  same  editions  of  the  Hebrew  Bible.  The  Jews 
and  Christians  have  closely  watched  each  other  ever 
since  the  days  of  the  apostles,  yet  do  they  now  agree 
in  receiving  the  same  sacred  text.  So  heretics  and 
Christians  have  watched  each  other  in  every  age,  yet 
no  material  corruption  of  the  text  of  the  Old  or  New 
Testament  has  taken  place.  It  could  not  have  been 
even  attempted  without  an  exposure  which  would 
have  ruined  the  credit  of  any  man  or  sect. 

Let  me  illustrate.  A.  B.  dies,  leaving  a  will  and 
seven  children.  Each  of  the  children  takes  a  copy 
of  the  will,  leaving  the  original  in  the  hands  of  a 
common  friend,  whose  house  is  destroyed  and  the 
will  with  it,  before  it  is  admitted  to  record.  Each 
of  the  heirs  produces  his  copy  of  the  will  in  court ; 
the  handwriting  of  each  is  different ;  the  spelling  of 
some  words  is  different ;  the  punctuation  does  not 
in  all  cases  agree ;  yet  the  true  intention  of  the  tes- 
tator is  manifest  from  each  copy.     Whatever  may 


A  REVELATION  REASONABLE.  21 

be  the  decision  of  the  judges  in  the  case,  surely 
the  heirs  cannot  doubt  what  the  will  of  the  testator 
was ;  and  if  they  agree  to  divide  the  estate  by  it, 
surely  his  views  and  the  ends  of  law  and  justice  will 
be  as  well  answered  as  if  the  original  had  been  pre- 
served. 

Just  so  the  millions  of  Christians  appeal  to  the 
same  copies  of  God's  word,  as  containing  the  char- 
ter of  their  hopes,  the  rule  of  their  lives,  and  the 
standard  of  their  creed.  Higher  evidence  of  the 
genuineness  of  our  Scriptures  is  not  in  the  nature 
of  things  to  be  expected.  No  other  records  have 
ever  been  esteemed  so  sacred ;  none  have  ever  had 
so  many  safeguards  to  their  purity.  It  is,  there- 
fore, safe  to  conclude,  that  our  Bible  is  the  same 
which  the  early  Christians  had. 


A  REVELATION  REASONABLE 

There  is  nothing  absurd  in  the  supposition  that 
He  who  made  us  should  instruct  us.  It  is  to  this 
day  a  question  among  scholars,  whether  language 
was  at  first  a  human  invention  or  a  revelation  from 
God.  Those  who  contend  that  it  is  a  human  inven- 
tion, have  never  argued  that  God  could  not,  or  if 
necessary,  would  not  have  revealed  it  to  man. 
Surely,  they  would  not  have  overlooked  so  obvious 
an  argument  if  it  had  possessed  any  weight. 


22  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

To  use  an  illustration  :  I  speak  not  of  what  God 
did,  but  of  what  he  might  have  done.  If  God  may, 
in  the  judgment  of  reason,  have  taught  us  language, 
may  he  not  teach  us  the  knowledge  of  himself  ?  If 
we  are  capable  of  communing  with  him,  is  he  not 
full  of  condescension,  and  may  he  not  commune  with 
us  ?  If  he  teaches  the  ant  and  the  bee  to  provide 
for  winter,  why  may  he  not  teach  man  to  provide 
for  eternity  ?  It  is  also  according  to  the  divine  plan 
generally  to  teach  truths  gradually,  and  by  a  few 
men  at  first.  The  world  stood  nearly  six  thousand 
years  before  the  use  of  the  mariner's  compass,  the 
art  of  printing,  the  true  system  of  astronomy,  the 
use  of  steam,  and  the  use  of  electricity  were  known. 
And  when  they  were  at  last  well  known,  it  was  by 
means  of  a  few  men.  In  revealing  the  divine  will 
on  religious  subjects  to  a  few  men  able  to  teach 
others,  God  is  but  following  an  analogy  which  runs 
through  all  his  dispensations. 


WHY  WERE  THE  SCRIPTURES  RECEIVED  AS  DIVINE  ? 

The  question  then  arises,  On  what  evidence  were 
the  books  of  Scripture  received  as  a  revelation  from 
God  ?  On  this  subject  many  false  things  have  been 
said  by  the  enemies  of  revelation.  In  answer  it  may 
be  stated,  that  the  divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures 
was  attested  by  numerous 


MIRACLES.  23 

MIRACLES. 

God  gave  sight  to  all  who  do  see.  Why  can  he 
not  give  it  to  a  man  born  blind  ?  He  gave  life  to 
all  who  live.  Why  can  he  not  give  it  to  the  dead  ? 
Against  the  existence  of  miracles  there  can  lie  no 
valid  objection.  It  is  reasonable  that  men,  sent  by 
God  to  teach  their  fellows,  should  be  able  to  attest 
their  commission  in  the  most  impressive  manner. 
There  is  no  absurdity  in  the  belief  of  miracles. 

Mr.  Hume,  indeed,  has  said  that  miracles  are  con- 
trary to  experience.  If  he  means  that  miracles  are 
contrary  to  our  experience  in  this  day,  it  is  admitted. 
But  if  he  means  that  miracles  were  contrary  to  the 
experience  of  the  early  Christians,  he  does  but  mis- 
erably beg  the  whole  question.  These  men  testified 
to  the  existence  of  miracles,  and  thousands  of  them, 
in  proof  of  their  honesty  and  sincerity  as  witnesses, 
joyfully  suffered  all  the  pains  of  martyrdom.  It  is 
not  possible  to  find  witnesses  more  competent  for 
their  intelligence  and  opportunities  of  observation,  or 
more  credible  for  their  honesty,  for  the  disinterested 
purity  of  their  lives,  and  for  their  agreement  among 
themselves.  No  man  has  ever  detected  any  dis- 
qualification in  the  witnesses,  or  shown  how  better 
witnesses  could  be  found  among  men. 

Neither  is  there  any  presumption  against  mira- 
cles from  any  lack  of  power  in  the  Almighty.  As 
Omnipotence  has  established,  so  it  can  suspend  the 


21  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

laws  of  nature.  Nothing  is  too  hard  for  God.  The 
only  question,  which  we  can  with  propriety  raise,  is, 
"  Whether  God  is  willing,  in  any  circumstances,  to 
work  a  miracle  ?"  The  truth  on  this  point  can  only 
be  learned  by  God's  declaring  that  he  is  willing,  or 
by  his  working  the  miracle.  If  he  work  the  mira- 
cle, his  declaration  of  his  willingness  to  do  so  is 
unnecessary.  When  one  of  the  ancients  denied  mo- 
tion, his  adversary  refused  to  argue  the  point ;  but 
arose  and  walked  across  the  room,  thus  silencing  all 
sophistry.  So,  if  a  man  deny  that  God  is  willing  to 
work  miracles,  and  he  be  answered  by  their  exhibi- 
tion before  his  eyes,  or  by  the  sure  records  of  his- 
tory, his  doubts  may  properly  cease.  Matters  of 
fact  in  things  external  to  us  can  be  known  only  in 
two  ways,  either  by  our  own  senses,  or  by  the  testi- 
mony of  others. 

The  miracles  establishing  the  truth  of  Christianity 
were  properly  wrought  at  the  time  of  its  first  prop- 
agation. Had  they  not  been  wrought  until  this  day, 
all  who  have  gone  before  us  would  have  been  desti- 
tute of  sufficient  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  Gos- 
pel. And  had  miracles  been  so  multiplied  and  con- 
tinued as  that  every  man,  down  to  our  day,  should 
have  witnessed  many  of  them,  they  would  by  their 
very  commonness  probably  have  lost  their  power 
over  the  human  mind,  and  wicked  men  would  have 
said  that  they  proved  nothing,  because  they  were  a 
part  of  the  laws  of  nature ;  or  if  their  strangeness 


MIRACLES.  25 

had  still  arrested  the  mind,  it  would  have  been  kept 
in  an  awe  amounting  to  terror,  and  thus  freedom  of 
choice  would  have  been  impaired.  We  are,  there- 
fore, from  the  nature  of  the  case,  left  to  the  testi- 
mony of  others,  who  were  eye-witnesses  of  the 
miracles  wrought  in  attestation  of  the  truth  of  the 
inspired  writings.  That  Jesus  Christ  allowed  the 
people  to  believe  that  he  wrought  miracles,  no  sober- 
minded  man  can  deny.  All  history,  whether  by 
friends  or  foes,  confirms  this  truth.  His  disciples 
abundantly  testify  to  this  point.  Now,  if  Jesus 
Christ  intended  to  make  the  people  believe  that  he 
wrought  miracles,  he  either  did  perform  them,  or 
he  was  an  impostor. 

If  he  were  an  impostor,  there  never  has  been 
one  like  him.  Never  has  malice  found  a  flaw  in  his 
character.  Infidels  themselves,  among  whom  are 
Paine  and  Jefferson,  acknowledge  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  a  benevolent  and  just  person.  Then,  if  he  was 
good,  he  was  not  a  deceiver,  but  a  true  and  sin- 
cere man,  and  did  all  he  claimed  to  have  done.  Yet 
he  often  claimed  obedience  to  his  authority,  on  the 
ground  of  his  miracles. 

The  enemies  of  Christianity  admitted  that  Christ 
did  do  those  things  which  we  call  miracles.  The 
Jews,  who  witnessed  them,  admitted  them,  but  as- 
cribed them  to  satanic  power.  Celsus,  the  first 
infidel  writer,  admitted  them,  but  compared  them  to 
the  tricks  of  the  magicians.     Porphyry,  the  second 

Bible  True.  3 


26  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

infidel,  did  not  deny  them,  but  said  the  Scriptures 
contained  contradictions.  Julian  was  emperor  of 
Rome  in  the  fourth  century.  He  was  an  apostate 
from  Christianity,  and  manifested  a  bitterness  against 
it,  which  has  hardly  ever  been  surpassed,  or  even 
equalled.  He  used  all  his  power  and  all  his  tal- 
ents— and  both  were  vast — to  oppose  the  word  of 
God.  In  writing  against  the  Christians,  he  does  not 
pretend  that  no  miracles  had  been  performed  by 
Christ.  In  two  places  he  distinctly  admits  them  to 
have  been  wrought.  He  admits  that  "  he  rebuked 
the  winds,  walked  on  the  seas,  healed  lame  and 
blind  people,"  etc.  Flavius  Josephus,  a  Jew,  who 
wrote  about  sixty  years  after  the  commencement 
of  Christianity,  speaking  of  a  period  some  years 
previous,  says,  in  his  History,  L.  18,  cap.  3,  sec. 
3,  "At  that  time  lived  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  he 
may  be  called  a  man,  for  he  performed  many  won- 
derful works.  He  was  a  teacher  of  such  as  received 
the  truth  with  pleasure."  This  passage  is  in  every 
copy  of  Josephus  now  extant.  It  may  be  safely 
asserted  that  there  is  not  a  fragment  of  history, 
either  contemporary  with  Christ  and  his  apostles,  or 
extant  within  many  ages  of  their  time,  which  dis- 
proves, or  tends  to  disprove  the  fact  that  those 
things,  which  we  call  miracles,  were  wrought  to  es- 
tablish the  truth  of  Christianity,  although  some  are 
found,  who  admit  the  facts,  but  attempt  to  account 
for  them  as  caused  by  magic  or  by  satanic  influence. 


MIRACLES.  27 

By  the  undeniable  character  of  the  miracles 
wrought,  not  only  were  all  doubts  removed  from  the 
minds  of  Christ's  immediate  followers,  but  enemies 
were  confounded  and  silenced,  or  put  to  rage  and 
made  to  gnash  their  teeth ;  and  in  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  cases  enemies  were  converted  into  friends, 
and  died  excruciating  deaths  rather  than  deny  what 
they  knew  to  be  the  truth.  Our  countryman,  Rit- 
tenhouse,  well  observed,  that  all  the  miracles  of 
Christ  were  benevolent ;  and  we  know  that  they  were 
wrought  not  only  at  night,  but  generally  by  day,  in 
the  open  air,  and  under  the  light  of  heaven,  not 
only  in  the  presence  of  friends,  but  in  the  midst  of 
shrewd,  cunning,  and  deadly  enemies.  There  was 
no  room  for  deception.  Legerdemain  never  gave 
sight  to  the  blind,  never  made  the  lame  man  walk 
and  leap,  never  raised  the  dead. 


MIRACLES  PROVE  A  REVELATION. 

Admitting  miracles  to  have  been  wrought,  the 
question  arises,  "  How  do  they  become  a  proof  of  a 
revelation?"  The  answer  is,  that  the  argument  is 
based  on  two  suppositions,  to  deny  either  of  which 
renders  it  impossible  to  reason  on  this  subject.  The 
first  is,  that  none  but  God  can  work  a  miracle.  The 
other  is,  that  God.  loves  truth,  and  will  not  exert  his 
power  miraculously  to  establish  error  and  falsehood. 
If  a  man  think  that  any  other,  than  the  power,  which 
ordained  -the  laws  of  nature,  can  suspend  them,  or 


28  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

that  a  good,  true,  and  loving  God  would  suspend 
the  laws  of  nature  to  confirm  a  fraud  upon  mankind, 
he  is  not  prepared  for  any  argument  on  the  evi- 
dences of  Christianity,  but  needs  to  be  instructed 
in  the  first  principles  of  natural  religion,  which  show 
by  innumerable  proofs  that  God  is  good.  He  denies 
axioms  in  the  argument,  for  Nicodemus  expressed 
not  only  his  own  views,  but  the  common  sense  of 
mankind,  upon  ascertaining  the  reality  of  miracles, 
when  he  said,  "  Master,  we  know  that  thou  art  a 
teacher  come  from  God ;  for  no  man  can  do  the 
miracles  that  thou  doest,  except  God  be  with 
him." 


MOHAMMED. 

"But,"  says  one,  "did  not  Mohammed  work 
miracles,  and  thus  establish  his  imposture  ?"  I  an- 
swer, he  did  not.  He  said  that  God  had  wrought 
miracles  enough  by  the  prophets,  and  by  Jesus 
Christ,  and  that  God  had  sent  him  to  teach.  This 
would  have  been  good  reasoning,  if  he  had  taught 
the  doctrines  of  Christ  and  the  prophets.  He  did, 
indeed,  assert  that  the  Koran  itself  was  a  miracle. 
But  this  is  evidently  a  play  upon  a  word,  and  not  a 
serious  argument ;  or,  if  it  be  the  latter,  then  we 
disprove  it  by  the  Iliad  of  Homer,  or  the  Paradise 
Lost  of  Milton,  which  are  much  more  sublime,  but 
which  no  man  ever  regarded  as  proofs  of  any  thing 
beyond  an  elevated  genius,  and  much  careful  study. 


PROPHECY.  29 

Mohammed's  great  argument,  as  every  well-informed 
man  knows,  was  the  sword,  not  miracles.  On  that 
he  relied,  as  the  history  of  his  life  shows. 


POPISH  MIRACLE?. 

The  miracles  pretended  to  be  wrought  in  the 
dark  ages,  and  in  more  modern  times,  in  support  of 
superstition,  are  wholly  destitute  of  the  support  of 
credible  and  competent  testimony.  They  were 
wrought  secretly,  or  in  the  presence  of  those  only, 
who  already  embraced  the  superstition,  which  was 
intended  to  be  supported  by  them  ;  or  it  took  years 
to  accomplish  one  miracle  ;  or  when  the  miracle  was 
pronounced  complete,  the  effect  said  to  have  been 
wrought  was  imperfect  and  doubtful.  On  one  or 
more  of  these  principles,  or  on  those  equally  valid, 
the  spurious  character  of  every  miracle  mentioned 
by  Mr.  Gibbon  and  other  enemies  of  the  truth  may 
be  easily  shown. 


PROPHECY. 
Leaving  this  brief  sketch  of  the  argument  from 
miracles,  let  us  look  at  the  argument  for  the  truth 
of  the  Bible,  drawn  from  prophecy.  This  argument, 
like  the  last,  is  based  upon  two  suppositions,  neither 
of  which  a  reasonable  man  will  deny.  One  is,  that 
prescience  belongs  to  God  only.  The  other  is,  that 
God  will 'not  reveal  the  secrets  of  futurity  for  the 

purpose  of  misguiding  his  creatures.    He,  who  grants 

3* 


30  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

these  two  truths,  needs  but  to  have  a  real  prophecy 
presented  to  his  mind,  to  be  satisfied  that  its  author 
speaks  by  the  authority  of  God.  Things  in  their 
very  nature  contingent,  and,  for  their  accomplish- 
ment, not  dependent  on  any  second  cause  now  in 
existence,  do,  if  foretold,  imply  foreknowledge  in 
the  being  foretelling  them.  If  he  who  prophesies 
expressly  disclaims  all  honor  as  due  to  himself,  and 
ascribes  his  prophecies  to  the  teachings  of  God,  and 
if  they  prove  true,  it  is  evident  that  God  is  with 
such  a  man. 

In  the  foregoing  principles  we  have  the  necessary 
distinctions  between  inspired  prophecy  and  that  un- 
usual sagacity  which  is  sometimes  found  in  men. 
Soon  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  Mr.  Canning  said, 
"  The  next  contest  in  Europe  will  be  a  war  of  prin- 
ciple." He  had  good  reasons  for  saying  so,  drawn 
from  the  state  of  things  known  to  all  the  world.  His 
prediction  was  true,  and  was  in  a  few  years  proved 
to  be  so.  But  he  did  not  pretend  that  it  was  in- 
spired.    It  was  the  product  of  his  own  reasonings. 

The  same  gentleman,  in  1826,  pronounced  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  British  West  Indies  utter- 
ly impossible.  Here  he  reasoned  with  perhaps  as 
much  accuracy  on  the  principles  and  facts  before 
him ;  but  he  left  out  of  view  the  public  temper, 
which  soon  became  much  changed ;  and  his  predic- 
tion failed.  Had  he  claimed  divine  inspiration  in  the 
case,  he  would  have  been  justly  numbered  among 


PROPHECY.  31 

the  lying  prophets.  As  it  is,  we  only  say  his  sa- 
gacity was  not  equal  to  his  subject.  He  was  not, 
he  did  not  claim  to  be  a  prophet. 

Now,  there  are  prophecies  in  the  Scriptures, 
amounting  to  several  hundreds,  of  so  distinct  and 
remarkable  a  character  as  to  be  inapplicable  to  any 
but  the  times,  the  places,  or  the  persons,  to  which 
the  Christian  world  generally  applies  them. 


UNIVERSAL  EMPIRES. 

Some  of  these  prophecies  contain  an  outline  of  all 
the  empires,  called  universal  monarchies,  which  have 
ever  existed.  They  describe  their  character,  their 
extent,  and  their  end,  with  a  minuteness  that  leaves 
the  historian  little  else  to  do  than  to  fill  up  the  out- 
line by  the  events,  which  are  remarkably  well  known. 
Let  any  man  read  Rollin's  Ancient  History,  and  he 
must  be  sceptical  indeed,  if  he  does  not  rise  from 
the  perusal  convinced  of  the  truth  of  all  here  as- 
serted. 


CYRUS. 

Some  of  these  prophecies  relate  to  particular 
persons  and  places.  Those  respecting  Cyrus  and 
the  taking  of  Babylon  were  written  two  hundred 
years  before  his  time.  They  give  his  name ;  they 
tell  how  he  should  take  the  city ;  they  describe  the 
nature  of  its  defences ;  they  foretell  his  decree  for 
the  return  of  the  Jews,  and  all  in  the  clearest  manner. 


32  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

TYRE. 

Perhaps  no  commercial  city  ever  had  greater 
wealth,  or  gave  fairer  promise  of  standing  -while  the 
world  shall  stand,  than  ancient  Tyre,  in  the  days  of 
Ezekiel.  Yet  by  that  prophet  God  declared  that  he 
would  "make  her  like  the  top  of  a  rock,"  and  that 
she  should  "  be  a  place  for  the  spreading  of  nets  in 
the  midst  of  the  sea."  Ezek.  26  :  4,  5.  For  cen- 
turies, every  man  who  has  visited  the  seat  of  ancient 
Tyre,  and  Volney  among  others,  has  seen  no  greater 
evidence  of  wealth  than  was  found  in  the  fish  spread 
upon  the  rocks  to  be  cured,  and  the  nets  spread  to 
be  dried. 


THE  ARABS. 

The  prophecies  respecting  the  Arabs,  the  descend- 
ants of  Ishmael,  are  in  our  day,  as  for  more  than 
three  thousand  years  they  have  been,  in  a  course  of 
striking  fulfilment.  See  Gen.  16  :  12.  The  Arab 
is  still  "  a  wild  man."  "  His  hand  is  still  against 
every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  is  still  against  him, 
and  he  still  dwells  in  the  presence  of  all  his  breth- 
ren," notwithstanding  the  mighty  exertions  which 
have  been  made  to  get  rid  of  him. 


CHRIST. 

The  prophecies  respecting  our  Saviour  predict  his 
miraculous  conception,  the  time  and  place  of  his 
birth,  his  lineage,  his  character,  his  miracles,  his 


PROPHECY.  33 

doctrine,  his  rejection  by  the  Jews,  the  manner  of 
his  death,  and  his  resurrection,  with  a  minuteness  in 
many  cases  truly  surprising.  Yet  all  was  fulfilled, 
even  down  to  the  words  and  acts  of  mockery  used 
by  his  enemies  at  his  death,  and  the  division  of  his 
apparel  among  his  crucifiers. 


JERUSALEM. 

The  prophecy  of  our  Saviour  respecting  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem,  limited  that  event  to  the  gen- 
eration then  upon  the  earth.  Matt.  24  :  34.  In  that 
generation  it  perished.  He  also  said  that  in  that 
event  there  should  "be  great  tribulation,  such  as 
had  not  been  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to 
that  time,  no,  nor  ever  should  be."  Matt.  24  :  21. 
No  candid  man  can  read  Josephus'  account  of  that 
event  without  consenting  to  the  assertion,  that  he 
never  read,  or  heard,  or  conceived  of  such  suffer- 
ing in  any  other  case.  See  Jerusalem  in  her  fallen 
condition  for  nearly  eighteen  centuries  :  "  How  doth 
the  city  sit  solitary,  that  was  full  of  people !  How 
is  she  become  as  a  widow,  she  that  was  great  among 
the  nations!" 


THE  JEWS. 

Look,  too,  at  the  dispersed,  distressed,  distinct 
state  of  the  Jews,  concerning  whom  God  said  that 
all  these  things  should  come  upon  them.  Scattered 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  persecuted  for  many  cen- 


34  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

turies,  their  children,  in  many  cases,  taken  from  them 
in  early  life,  to  conceal  their  origin  and  change  their 
religion,  they  still  remain  a  suffering  people  ;  and  to 
this  day  they  are  as  distinct  from  all  other  people 
as  when  they  lived  in  Judea.  I  need  not  dwell  upon 
the  prophecies  concerning  them.  Let  one  of  their 
own  number  tell  their  views  on  this  matter. 

Rabbi  David  Levi  speaks  of  the  proofs  of  "  the 
exact  accomplishment  of  every  event  foretold  by 
Moses  as  affording  such  clear  and  unequivocal  proofs 
of  divine  inspiration,  as  to  strike  the  Deist  and  Infi- 
del dumb."  Again  he  says,  "I  am  free  to  assert, 
no  nation  ever  suffered  the  like,  during  a  space  of 
almost  eighteen  hundred  years."  Again,  "If  we 
enter  into  particulars,  we  shall  find  that  punishments 
which  he  (Moses)  denounced  against  them,  (the 
Jews,)  have  been  so  exactly  fulfilled  in  every  par- 
ticular, that  it  is  no  wonder  if  infidels  have  recourse 
to  the  old  hackneyed  objections,  that  the  facts  were 
prior  to  the  predictions,  and  that  the  prophecies  were 
written  after  the  histories."  Having  given  a  brief 
view  of  these  prophecies  and  their  fulfilment,  he 
Bays,  "  I  must  freely  acknowledge,  that  they  not 
only  convince,  but  astonish  and  amaze  me  beyond 
utterance."* 

On  these  two  great  pillars,  miracles  and  prophecy, 
Christianity  rests  its  weight.    No  friend  of  the  truth 
*  Defence  of  the  Old  Testament,  pp.  11,  15,  16,  and  33. 


COLLATERAL  PROOFS.  35 

ought  for  a  moment  to  surrender  either  of  them,  or 
fail  to  defend  them,  when  a  proper  opportunity  of- 
fers. The  merest  outline  of  the  argument  from  each 
has  been  given.  If  any  one  would  know  more  on 
the  subject,  let  him  read  several  well-known  works 
on  miracles  and  prophecy. 


COLLATERAL  PROOFS. 

But  there  are  also  many  collateral  sources  of  evi- 
dence, such  as  the  majesty,  the  purity,  the  impar- 
tiality, and  the  harmony  of  the  word  of  God.  Each 
of  these  topics  might  be  enlarged  upon,  and  with 
much  propriety.  They  are  merely  alluded  to  now 
for  the  purpose  of  saying  that  they  are,  in  their 
place,  important,  and  that  they  have  summoned  and 
won  the  confidence  of  thousands  of  the  greatest  and 
wisest  men  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton,  having,  by  the  application  of 
known  principles  of  science,  made  known  the  dis- 
tance and  magnitude  of  the  sun  and  many  of  his 
satellites,  sat  down  to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  say- 
ing, "We  account  the  Scriptures  of  God  the  sub- 
limest  philosophy." 

Milton,  of  whose  Paradise  Lost  Dr.  Johnson  says, 
"  It  is  not  the  greatest  of  heroic  poems,  only  because 
it  is  not  the  first,"  declares,  "  There  are  no  songs 
comparable  to  the  songs  of  Zion." 


36  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

A  volume  might  be  filled  with  similar  testimonies 
to  the  unparalleled  excellence  of  the  sacred  writings, 
which,  as  Mr.  Locke  says,  "have  God  for  their 
author,  salvation  for  their  end,  and  truth  without 
any  mixture  of  error,  for  their  matter." 

On  this  branch  of  the  subject  I  take  pleasure  in 
recommending  to  the  reader  a  work,  published  by 
the  American  Tract  Society,  entitled,  "  The  Bible  not 
of  Man." 

THE  BIBLE  MAKES  MEN  BETTER. 

There  are  two  effects  produced  by  the  Bible  on 
the  hearts  of  those  who  embrace  it,  which  are  pe- 
culiar to  revelation.  One  is,  elevated  purity.  "  The 
law  of  the  Lord  converteth  the  soul."  This  effect 
is  not  confined  to  the  less  vicious  part  of  mankind, 
but  is  witnessed  also  in  the  desperate,  and  outra- 
geous, and  lawless,  who  are  brought  under  its  power. 
Men  as  fierce  as  wild  beasts,  as  cruel  as  death,  as 
ungovernable  as  a  storm,  have  often  felt  its  purify- 
ing power.  This  has  been  the  case  from  the  first. 
An  early  Christian  writer  says,  "  Give  me  a  man  of 
a  passionate,  abusive,  headstrong  disposition ;  with 
a  few  only  of  the  words  of  God,  I  will  make  him 
gentle  as  a  lamb.  Give  me  a  greedy,  avaricious, 
tenacious  wretch ;  and  I  will  teach  him  to  distribute 
his  riches  with  a  liberal  and  unsparing  hand.  Give 
me  a  cruel  and  bloodthirsty  monster ;  and  all  his 
rage  shall  be  changed  into  true  benignity.     Give  me 


COLLATERAL  PROOFS.  37 

a  man  addicted  to  injustice,  full  of  ignorance,  and  im- 
mersed in  wickedness ;  he  shall  soon  become  just,  pru- 
dent, and  innocent."     Lactantius,  Inst.,  1.  1,  c.  26. 

Such  has  ever  been  and  still  is  the  power  of  the 
Bible  on  the  heart.  The  history  of  the  true  church 
of  God,  if  correctly  written,  would  be  very  much  a 
succession  of  narratives  of  the  power  of  Bible  truth 
in  converting  and  sanctifying  the  hearts  of  men. 
This  effect  is  not  produced  by  the  Bible  in  common 
with  other  moral  writings.  Cicero  was  eloquent  and 
studious.  He  wrote  concerning  the  nature  of  God 
and  the  duties  of  life.  But  history  has  never  yet 
recorded  that  his  works  converted  one  sinner  from 
the  error  of  his  ways.  The  Bible  alone,  and  books 
which  embody  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  have  this 
wonderful  efficacy. 

The  human  heart  seems  to  say,  "  Paul  I  know, 
Jesus  I  know ;  I  feel  the  force  of  their  teachings ; 
but  who  are  ye,  that  come  to  me  with  your  philos- 
ophy, and  splendid  poems,  and  powerful  eloquence  ? 
I  may  admire,  but  I  will  not  obey  you."  Must  not 
such  a  book  be  from  God  ? 


THE  BIBLE  COMFORTS. 

Another  excellency  of  Christianity  is,  its  power  to 
console  the  afflicted  mind.  Compared  with  all  other 
systems,  and  especially  with  infidel  systems,  how 
cold,  and  dark,  and  cheerless  are  they,  and  how 
quieting,  animating,  and  enlivening  is  Christianity ! 
4. 


38  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

It  tells  us  a  thousand  things  to  make  us  not  only 
patient,  but  triumphant ;  not  merely  in  some  of  the 
minor  afflictions  of  life,  but  even  when  the  cup  of 
bitterness  is  full,  and  we  are  called  to  drink  its  dregs. 
Instead  of  dealing  in  generals,  allow  me  to  state 
some  cases. 


VOLTAIRE  AND  HALYBURTON 

I  will  contrast  the  feelings  of  the  prince  of  infi- 
delity with  those  of  an  humble  yet  learned  and  pious 
servant  of  God. 

Voltaire  says,  "Who  can,  without  horror,  con- 
sider the  whole  world  as  the  empire  of  destruction  ? 
It  abounds  with  wonders ;  it  abounds  also  with  vic- 
tims. It  is  a  vast  field  of  carnage  and  contagion. 
Every  species  is  without  pity  pursued  and  torn  to 
pieces  through  the  air,  and  earth,  and  water.  In 
man  there  is  more  wretchedness  than  in  all  other 
animals  put  together.  He  loves  life,  and  yet  he 
knows  he  must  die.  If  he  enjoys  a  transient  good, 
he  suffers  various  evils,  and  is  at  last  devoured  by 
worms.  This  knowledge  is  his  fatal  prerogative. 
Other  animals  have  it  not.  He  spends  the  transient 
moments  of  his  existence  in  diffusing  the  miseries 
which  he  suffers ;  in  cutting  the  throats  of  his  fel- 
low-creatures for  pay ;  in  cheating,  and  being  cheat- 
ed ;  robbing,  and  being  robbed ;  in  serving  that  he 
might  command ;  and  in  repenting  of  all  he  does. 


COLLATERAL  PROOFS.  39 

The  bulk  of  mankind  are  nothing  more  than  a  crowd 
of  wretches  equally  criminal  and  unfortunate ;  and 
the  globe  contains  rather  carcasses  than  men.  I 
tremble  at  the  review  of  this  dreadful  picture,  and 
find  it  contains  a  complaint  against  providence  itself. 
I  wish  I  had  never  been  born."  This  is  the  testimony 
of  him  whom  kings  courted  and  nations  flattered. 
This  is  the  sum  of  all  to  him,  "  I  wish  I  had  never 
been  born." 

Turn  we  now  to  Halyburton,  a  good  man,  who 
loved  his  Maker  and  his  Maker's  word.  In  the  midst 
of  pain,  he  said,  "  I  shall  shortly  get  a  very  dif- 
ferent sight  of  God  from  what  I  have  ever  had,  and 
shall  be  made  meet  to  praise  him  for  ever  and  ever, 
O,  the  thoughts  of  an  incarnate  Deity  are  sweet  and 
ravishing.  0,  how  I  wonder  at  myself  that  I  do 
not  love  him  more,  and  that  I  do  not  adore  him 
more.  What  a  wonder  that  I  enjoy  such  composure 
under  all  my  bodily  pains,  and  in  the  view  of  death 
itself.  What  mercy,  that  having  the  use  of  my  rea- 
son, I  can  declare  his  goodness  to  my  soul.  I  long 
for  his  salvation.  I  bless  his  name  that  I  have  found 
him,  and  I  die  rejoicing  in  him.  0,  blessed  be  God 
that  I  was  born.  0  that  I  was  where  he  is.  I  have 
a  father  and  mother,  and  ten  brothers  and  sisters  in 
heaven,  and  I  shall  be  the  eleventh.  0,  there  is  a 
telling  in  this  providence,  and  I  shall  be  telling  it 
for  ever.  If  there  be  such  a  glory  in  his  conduct 
towards  me  now,  what  will  it  be  to  see  the  Lamb  in 


40  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

the  midst  of  the  throne  ?     Blessed  be  God  that  I 
was  horny 

Here  is  a  contrast  indeed — a  contrast  in  which  the 
blind  themselves  may  discern  between  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked,  the  man  that  loves  and  the  man 
that  hates  the  word  of  God. 


ANOTHER  CONTRAST. 

Take  another  example  of  each  kind — Gibbon  the 
historian,  and  Paul  the  apostle.  Both  of  these  men 
were  accomplished  scholars ;  both  had  great  energy 
of  character ;  both  had  given  to  the  world  writings 
which  they  had  a  right  to  expect  woul<J  be  read  to 
the  end  of  time ;  both  had  filled  a  large  space  in  the 
public  eye  for  a  long  time,  and  both  attained  to 
about  the  same  age.  Just  before  they  left  the  world, 
they  tell  us  their  thoughts. 

The  closing  paragraph  of  Mr.  Gibbon's  autobi- 
ography is  in  these  words :  "  The  present  is  a  fleet- 
ing moment ;  the  past  is  no  more ;  and  our  prospect 
of  futurity  is  dark  and  doubtful.  This  day  may 
possibly  be  my  last ;  but  the  laws  of  probability,  so 
true  in  general,  so  fallacious  in  particular,  still  allow 
about  fifteen  years.  I  shall  soon  enter  into  that  pe- 
riod which,  as  the  most  agreeable  of  his  long  life, 
was  selected  by  the  judgment  and  experience  of  the 
sage  Fontenelle.    His  choice  is  approved  by  the  elo- 


COLLATERAL  PROOF3.  41 

quent  historian  of  nature,  [Buffon,]  who  fixes  our 
moral  happiness  to  the  mature  season,  in  which  our 
passions  are  supposed  to  be  calmed,  our  duties  ful- 
filled, our  ambition  satisfied,  and  our  fame  and  for- 
tune established  on  a  solid  basis.  In  private  con- 
versation that  great  and  amiable  man  added  the 
weight  of  his  own  experience ;  and  this  autumnal 
felicity  might  be  exemplified  in  the  lives  of  Voltaire, 
Hume,  and  many  other  men  of  letters.  I  am  far 
more  inclined  to  embrace  than  to  dispute  this  com- 
fortable doctrine.  I  will  not  suppose  any  premature 
decay  of  the  mind  and  body ;  but  I  must  reluctantly 
observe  that  two  causes,  the  abbreviation  of  time, 
the  failure  of  hope,  will  always  tinge  with  a  browner 
shade  the  evening  of  life."  Thus  wrote  the  author 
of  the  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Ro- 
man Empire,  and  in  a  few  months  he  died  and  left 
the  world.  As  to  Voltaire's  "autumnal  happiness," 
we  have  read  his  words,  "  I  wish  I  had  never  been 
born." 

Listen  now  to  the  language  of  Paul,  standing  on 
the  verge  of  time.  He  says,  "  I  am  now  ready  to 
be  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand. 
I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my 
course,  I  have  kept  the  faith.  Henceforth  there  is 
laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the 
Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day  ; 
and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  that  love  his 
appearing." 

Bible  True.  ^ 


42  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

The  unbeliever  in  trouble  is  a  reed  shaken  with 
the  wind — he  is  tossed  with  tempest  and  not 
comforted.  But  he  whose  trust  is  in  the  living 
oracles  of  Jehovah,  even  when  sorrow  betides  him, 
stands 

"  As  some  tall  cliff,  that  lifts  its  awful  form, 
Swells  from  the  vale,  and  midway  leaves  the  storm  ; 
Though  round  its  breast  the  rolling  clouds  are  spread, 
Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head." 


THE  ARGUMENT  CUMULATIVE. 

Much  of  this  evidence,  instead  of  being  weaken- 
ed, is  strengthened  by  the  course  of  time.  Every 
sinner  who  is  converted,  every  poor  believer  who 
is  cheered,  every  afflicted  saint  who  is  enabled  to 
triumph,  every  new  instance  of  the  power  of  the 
Gospel  in  any  form, .  and  every  continued  or  new 
fulfilment  of  prophecy,  adds  another  strand  to  a 
cord,  which  is  already  strong  enough  to  bind  the 
consciences  and  the  hearts  of  all  the  best  men  in 
the  world.  So  that  to  the  candid,  humble,  and  in- 
telligent believer,  who  shall  live  in  that  time  when 
the  Sun  of  righteousness  shall  ascend  the  heavens, 
and  stand  still,  a  thousand  years,  and  pour  floods 
of  light  and  love  and  redemption  over  all  the  earth, 
there  will  still  be  evidence  abundant  for  his  strong 
and  triumphant  faith  in  the  oracles  of  God. 


SCIENTIFIC  OBJECTIONS.  43 

SCIENTIFIC   OBJECTIONS. 

ASTRONOMY. 

It  may  be  proper  here  to  notice  some  objections, 
drawn  from  science,  against  the  truth  of  the  Bible. 
The  first  is,  that  the  Bible  speaks  of  the  sun  rising 
and  setting,  whereas  modern  astronomy  shows  that 
it  does  neither,  but  only  seems  to  do  so.  To  this  it 
is  sufficient  to  reply,  that  the  Bible  is  not  a  book  on 
science ;  that  it  uses  popular  language  on  the  sub- 
jects on  which  it  speaks ;  and  that  it  would  have 
been  mere  affectation  in  Newton  or  any  other  as- 
tronomer to  have  avoided  such  phrases  as  were  in 
common  use.  Had  the  Bible  used  scientific  lan- 
guage on  this  subject,  all  men,  whose  system  of  as- 
tronomy was  wrong,  must  have  rejected  the  Bible, 
or  renounced  their  science;  whereas  the  Bible  at- 
tacks no  system  of  astronomy  and  teaches  none.  It 
teaches  God's  will  and  man's  duty  in  morals  and 
religion;  it  professes  to  have  no  other  objects  in 
view,  and  yet,  in  teaching  God's  power,  it  says,  "He 
hangeth  the  earth  upon  nothing." 

But  it  is  also  said  that  modern  astronomy  gives  a 
vastness  to  creation  never  understood  by  the  readers 
of  the  Bible  until  taught  by  modern  science.  That 
may  be  so.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  Bible  which 
opposes  the  idea  that  creative  wisdom  has  its  mon- 
uments throughout  immensity.  The  Bible  certainly 
uses  as  pious  and  elevated  language  concerning  God 


44  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

and  his  vast  works  of  creation  as  if  the  inspired  writ- 
ers had  been  familiar  with  all  the  ideas  we  derive 
from  the  advancement  of  science.  It  is  sufficient 
that  the  Bible  says  nothing  contrary  to  what  we 
have  learned  respecting  these  things.  It  does  not 
profess  to  teach  them.  This  would  have  been 
beside  its  great  object,  as  much  as  arithmetic  or 
chemistry  is. 

But  some  say,  It  is  now  pretty  generally  sup- 
posed that  many  other  worlds  besides  ours  are  filled 
with  intelligent  inhabitants,  and  that  the  plan  of 
salvation  contemplates  no  reference  to  any  other 
race  of  beings  than  the  human  family,  and  is  thus 
on  too  small  a  scale  to  be  worthy  of  God.  That 
other  planets  have  rational  inhabitants  is  a  mere  in- 
ference from  the  analogy  of  this  world — an  analogy 
very  limited,  as  all  must  confess,  and  never  to  be 
brought  in  serious  argument  against  any  better  or 
solid  grounds  of  knowledge.  No  wise  man  can  hes- 
itate, if  the  alternative  be  to  renounce  the  Bible  or 
give  up  the  opinion  that  every  heavenly  body  has 
its  teeming  millions  of  rational  creatures.  But  there 
is  no  such  alternative.  Recent  observations  have 
pretty  generally  satisfied  the  learned  that  the  moon, 
at  least,  is  without  inhabitants.  It  may  be  so  with 
other  worlds.  The  science  of  astronomy  rests  on 
evidence :  the  supposition  that  all  worlds  are  intel- 
ligently peopled,  is  a  conjecture — not  wild,  indeed, 
nor  irrational,  but  still  a  conjecture.     A  man  who 


SCIENTIFIC  OBJECTIONS.  45 

had  tasted  but  one  orange  and  found  that  sour, 
might  very  naturally,  but  by  no  means  truly,  infer 
that  all  were  so.  It  is  eminently  philosophical  to 
hold  fast  well-established  principles  against  all  that 
have  less  decisive  marks  of  truth.  Yet  Christians, 
no  less  than  others,  admit  the  conjecture  to  have 
marks  of  probability. 

Having  admitted  thus  much,  it  is  proper  to  say 
that  the  Bible  does  recognize  the  existence  of  other 
rational  and  immortal  creatures  besides  man,  some 
of  them  holy  and  some  of  them  sinful,  and  both  of 
them  very  numerous.  They  are  spoken  of  as  "le- 
gions," "thousands,"  and  "ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand,  and  thousands  of  thousands."  The  Scrip- 
tures admit  that  some  of  God's  rational  creatures 
were  created  before  our  world  was,  but  they  do  not 
say  how  much  older  they  are  than  we.  Nor  is  there 
any  evidence  from  revelation  or  philosophy  that  sin 
has  ever  corrupted  any  but  the  human  race  and  a 
part  of  the  angelic.  The  latter  have  been  passed  by 
without  an  offer  of  mercy. 

A  few  public  examples  may  as  clearly  display  the 
nature  of  government  as  a  thousand.  So  also,  the 
grace  and  mercy  offered  to  man  may  show  that 
"  God  is  love,"  as  well  as  if  the  same  were  offered 
to  a  million  of  worlds.  Besides,  the  Scriptures  fully 
admit  that,  compared  with  the  whole  of  God's  do- 
minions, man  is  an  exceedingly  small  part  of  the 
creation,  Psalm  8 ;  and  therefore  the  divine  conde- 


46  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

scension  towards  him  is  the  more  striking.  The  Bible 
also  declares,  that  before  this  world  was  made,  God 
contemplated  it  as  the  seat  of  wonderful  exhibitions 
of  the  divine  glory  and  perfections.     Prov.  8. 

Sin,  we  admit,  breaks  the  golden  chain  that  binds 
the  family  of  God  together  ;  but  it  is  expressly  de- 
clared in  Scripture,  that  by  Christ  Jesus  a  new  head 
is  given  to  the  family  of  God,  and  all  unf alien  and 
all  redeemed  creatures  constitute  for  ever  one  glori- 
ous household  under  him.  Thus  new  and  glorious 
relations  are  introduced  between  God  and  all  holy 
rational  creatures.  This  is  the  grandest  display  of 
wisdom  and  goodness  of  which  we  have  any  know- 
ledge.    Eph.  1 :  8-10 ;  Col.  1 :  20. 

If  the  work  of  Christ  has  such  effects  on  the  ra- 
tional creatures  of  whose  existence  we  are  assured, 
who  can  limit  it  to  them  ?  The  Bible  puts  no  bounds 
to  its  effects  in  bringing  glory  to  God  and  happiness 
to  his  creatures.  Whatever  may  be  the  vastness  of 
creation,  there  is  nothing  in  the  Bible  discouraging 
the  idea  that  the  happiness  of  all  unfallen  creatures 
will  be  augmented  by  the  work  of  Christ.  Although 
those  who  have  not  sinned  needed  no  redemption, 
yet  their  discoveries  of  God's  glories  may  be  far 
greater  by  this  than  by  any  other  of  his  works ;  and 
their  relations  to  God,  to  one  another,  and  to  the 
rest  of  creation,  may  be  not  only  novel,  but  full  of 
increasing  knowledge  and  glory  for  ever. 


SCIENTIFIC  OBJECTIONS.  47 

GEOLOGY. 

Some  ill-informed  persons  have  alleged  that  there 
are  discrepancies  between  the  statements  of  the 
Bible  and  the  teachings  of  geology  concerning  the 
creation,  the  flood,  etc.  The  following  remarks  are 
believed  to  be  sound,  and  fairly  to  meet  any  preju- 
dices from  this  quarter. 

1.  I  freely  admit  that  there  is  such  a  science  as 
geology ;  yet  no  one,  who  is  entitled  to  respect,  will 
claim  that  it  is  demonstrative.  It  is  admitted  by  its 
friends,  to  be  yet  incomplete  as  a  science,  and  to  be 
in  a  state  of  rapid  advancement. 

2.  For  a  lon^  time  it  has  been  coming  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  standard  of  revelation.  Even  the  most 
scrutinizing  of  its  devotees  have  yielded  point  after 
point,  until  it  has  lost,  by  the  concessions  of  its 
friends,  most,  if  not  all  its  supiiosed  discrepancy  with 
revelation.  A  little  further  progress  in  the  science 
will  probably  show,  that  its  teachings  wonderfully 
harmonize  in  all  respects  with  the  scriptural  state- 
ments on  the  same  subjects. 

3.  No  class  of  respectable  scientific  men  have 
probably  been  more  hasty  and  rash  in  making  asser- 
tions, than  some  geologists.  Buffon  set  the  example. 
He  supposed  that  the  earth  and  moon  had  been 
rived  off  from  the  sun  by  the  stroke  of  a  comet,  and 
that  the  momentum  and  motion  thus  received  caused 
the  moon  to  revolve  around  the  earth,  and  both  the 
earth  and  moon  to  revolve  around  the  sun.     He 


48  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

supposed  that  the  fiery  vapors  brought  from  the  sun 
condensed  into  water,  and  produced  the  ocean.  Thus 
he  proceeded  from  folly  to  folly,  though  with  quite 
an  air  of  confidence,  and  with  an  eloquence  extremely 
captivating.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  inform  the 
reader  that  no  respectable  writer,  now  living,  em- 
braces the  theory  of  Buflfon  above  alluded  to. 

4.  The  assertions  of  some  geologists  are  hardly 
more  surprising  than  the  facility  with  which  one 
abandons  ground  formerly  taken  and  confidently 
maintained  by  another,  or  even  by  himself.  This 
necessarily  results  from  the  low  state  of  the  science, 
and  the  uncertainty  of  many  principles  said  to  be- 
long to  it;  and  has  often,  though  improperly,  led 
some  sober  men  to  doubt  whether  geology  has  any 
claims  to  the  rank  and  dignity  of  a  science.  Vol- 
umes would  be  required  to  show  the  sudden  and 
total  changes  which  have  been  made  in  a  short  time 
on  this  subject. 

5.  Men  make  unreasonable  drafts  on  our  belief, 
when  they  demand  our  credence  to  the  assertion, 
that  all  processes  of  organization  and  induration, 
which  have  ever  gone  on,  have  proceeded  as  slowly 
as  those  we  now  witness  on  or  near  the  surface  of 
the  earth.  If  they  but  admit  that  the  laws  of  mat- 
ter are  distinct  and  different  from  the  properties  of 
matter,  and  that  the  laws  of  nature  are  nothing  but 
the  usual  modes  of  divine  operation  in  nature,  how 
can  they  show  that  God,  in  the  early  periods  of  the 


SCIENTIFIC  OBJECTIONS.  49 

world,  did  not  give  unusual  celerity  or  efficiency  to 
these  laws?  This  view  alone  would  preserve  all 
that  is  essential  in  the  distinction  between  creation 
and  providence.  If  there  were  no  Bible,  we  could 
not,  without  forfeiting  a  title  to  a  truly  scientific 
state  of  mind,  ask  less  or  yield  more  on  this  and 
some  other  points. 

6.  Christianity  has  fairly  stood  the  test  in  regard 
to  every  true  principle  of  real  science  which  has  yet 
been  established,  although  oftentimes  ignorant  and 
timid  friends,  and  ignorant  and  insolent  enemies, 
have  been  led  to  suppose  there  was  a  discrepancy. 
It  will  be  so  with  geology.  Of  this  we  have  the 
strongest  assurance  in  the  large  and  valuable  contri- 
butions to  natural  theology  made  by  this  science. 
Between  natural  and  revealed  religion  there  is  the 
firmest  union  and  the  best  agreement.  That  which 
is  really  friendly  to  one,  cannot  be  inimical  to  the 
other.  The  result  always  has  proved  it,  and  always 
will  prove  it. 

7.  Geology  has  clearly  settled  the  point  that  ani- 
mal organization  and  life  have  not  been  eternal,  and 
that  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  human  family  has 
been  in  existence  much  more  than  five  or  six  thou- 
sand years.  From  the  time  of  Cuvier  down,  these 
things  have  not  been  seriously  questioned.  Thus,  in 
the  argument  with  a  large  number  of  sceptics,  we 
have  an  advantage  of  great  importance. 

8.  Nor  is  there  any  thing  in  Scripture,  which  as- 


50  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

serts  that  animals  never  died  until  man  sinned,  or 
that  they  would  not  have  died  if  man  had  not  sin- 
ned ;  though  it  is  freely  admitted  that  man  himself 
would  have  been  immortal,  if  he  had  not,  by  trans- 
gression, lost  the  favor  of  God.  The  Bible  does 
not  even  assert,  although  it  may  be  true,  that  there 
are  circumstances  revolting  to  our  feelings  often  at- 
tending the  death  of  animals,  beyond  what  would 
have  attended  their  dissolution  if  man  had  not  sin- 
ned. 

9.  Nor  is  there  any  thing  in  revelation  which  for- 
bids us  to  believe  that  the  substance  of  the  earth  was 
formed  long  before  it  received  its  present  organiza- 
tion. The  first  verse  of  Genesis  may  relate  to  a  pe- 
riod millions  of  ages  prior  to  the  events  noticed  in 
the  rest  of  the  chapter.  Commentators,  who  wrote 
hundreds,  and  some  of  them  fifteen  hundred  years 
ago,  seem  to  have  understood  the  first  verse  as  re- 
lating to  a  period  far  anterior  to  the  creation  of  man. 
This  interpretation,  therefore,  is  not  modern,  nor 
made  merely  to  obviate  a  difficulty.  But  if  it  were, 
it  is  so  perfectly  coincident  with  the  just  rules  of 
interpretation,  that  there  can  be  no  just  objection 
to  it. 

10.  Nor  do  any  considerable  number  of  respecta- 
ble geologists  now  resort  to  the  supposition  favored 
by  Parkinson,  Cuvier,  and  Jameson,  that  the  six 
days  of  creation  were  six  periods  of  indefinite,  or, 
at  least,  of  vast  duration.     The  word  day  does  not 


SCIENTIFIC  OBJECTIONS.  51 

necessarily,  or  always,  in  Scripture,  signify  a  period 
of  twenty-four  hours.  But  there  are  serious  diffi- 
culties from  other  quarters  in  giving  this  interpreta- 
tion to  this  part  of  Scripture.  The  objections  to 
this  "device  of  interpretation,"  as  a  respectable  ge- 
ologist calls  it,  are  so  great  that  sober  critics  have 
entirely  rejected  it,  and  a  large  majority  of  the  best 
geologists  now  think  such  an  interpretation  uncalled 
for  by  any  facts  known  in  their  favorite  science. 

11.  Geologists  generally  admit  that  there  is  abun- 
dant evidence  that  the  earth  everywhere  bears  marks 
of  having  been  subjected  to  a  deluge.  Cuvier,  after 
a  long  statement  of  facts  and  reasonings  on  the  sub- 
ject, says,  "I  think,  therefore,  with  Deluc  and  Do- 
lomieu,  that  if  there  be  any  thing  settled  in  geology, 
it  is  this,  that  the  surface  of  our  globe  has  been 
subjected  to  a  great  and  sudden  revolution,  the  date 
of  which  cannot  be  carried  much  farther  back  than 
five  or  six  thousand  years." 

12.  Every  passage  of  Scripture  has  been  so  ex- 
plained, or  can  be  so  explained,  in  perfect  consist- 
ency with  the  established  laws  of  exegesis,  as  not  in 
the  slightest  degree  to  interfere  with  the  settled  or 
generally  received  principles  of  geology. 

The  foregoing  remarks  are  sufficient  to  put  to  rest 
all  fears  which  have  been  entertained  in  any  quarter 
from  the  science  of  geology.  It  would  require  only 
time  to  fortify  every  one  of  them  with  the  proof 
believed  to  be  appropriate  to  the  subject. 


52  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

The  question  here  arises,  "  How  comes  any  man 
to  reject  the  belief  of  the  Scriptures?"  In  other 
words, 

WHAT  ARE  THE  CAUSES  OP  INFIDELITY? 

If  we  answer  this  question  generally,  we  may  say, 
"Free- living  is  the  father  of  freethinking."  Cor- 
rupt manners  are  the  basis  of  infidelity.  A  wicked 
heart  is  the  nursery  of  a  wicked  creed.  The  Bible 
opposes  all  sin,  secret  and  open.  A  heart  in  love 
with  sin,  therefore,  naturally  opposes  the  Bible.  This 
is  the  method  adopted  in  the  Scriptures  themselves 
of  accounting  for  infidelity.  Peter,  2  Epis.  3  :  3, 
says,  "There  shall  come  in  the  last  days  scoffers, 
walking  after  their  own  lusts."  These  men  he  de- 
scribes as  making  some  attempts  at  argument,  and 
yet  the  very  effort  at  reasoning  is  so  filled  with  im- 
piety and  insolence  that  it  is  properly  denominated 
"scoffing."  The  reason  for  this  "scoffing"  is  also 
given.  It  is  an  expression  of  the  enmity  of  those 
who  "  walk  after  their  own  lusts,"  that  is,  they  are 
men  of  irregular  and  licentious  lives ;  not  all  to  an 
equal  degree  or  in  like  manner,  perhaps,  but  all  really 
so.  In  1  Tim.  1 :  19,  Paul  says,  "Some  have  put 
away  a  good  conscience,"  that  is,  they  have  fallen 
into  sin.  What  was  the  consequence  ?  This,  "  Con- 
cerning the  faith  they  have  made  shipwreck."  Sin 
made  them  renounce  the  Gospel.  Christ  himself 
said,  "  How  can  ye  believe,  who  receive  honor  one 


CAUSES  OF  INFIDELITY.  53 

of  another,  and  seek  not  the  honor  that  cometh  from 
God  only  ?"  In  many  places  the  Scriptures  assert 
that  the  truth  is  rejected  on  account  of  a  wicked 
life. 


MEN  DO  NOT  GATHER  GRAPES  FROM  THORNS. 

It  is  also  true,  that  men  are  not  surprised  at  any 
immorality  in  one  known  to  them  only  as  an  infidel, 
while  all  are  surprised  at  the  same  in  one  known 
to  them  only  as  a  professor  of  Christianity.  The 
reason  of  this  is,  that  a  mind  at  all  informed  does 
not  expect  men  to  be  restrained  except  in  accordance 
with  their  principles.  Where  is  the  chapter  in  in- 
fidelity, which,  under  any  adequate  sanctions,  forbids 
lewdness,  profanity,  and  dishonesty,  or  which  re- 
quires "  a  chaste  conversation,"  reverent  speech,  and 
whatsoever  things  are  true,  honest,  just,  pure,  lovely, 
and  of  good  report  ?  No  such  doctrine  is  found  in 
it.  In  other  words,  mankind  do  not  expect  to  gather 
grapes  from  thorns,  nor  figs  from  thistles.  The 
morality  of  infidels  is  owing  to  education,  to  habit, 
or  to  public  opinion,  and  never  to  their  infidel  prin- 
ciples. So  far  as  they  have  good  moral  principles, 
they  are  indebted  to  Christianity  for  them.  Infi- 
delity, in  this  respect,  always  ploughs  with  a  bor- 
rowed or  stolen  heifer.  But  let  us  descend  to  par- 
ticulars. We  shall  then  find  a  sufficient  cause  in  the 
moral  character  of  the  most  noted  infidels  for  their 
rejection  of  the  Bible. 

Bible  True.  5* 


54  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

SINFUL  IGNORANCE. 

Peter  charges  "  wilful  ignorance  "  upon  the  infi- 
dels of  his  day.  It  is  no  less  chargeable  upon  their 
more  modern  followers.  Where  was  there  ever  an 
infidel,  who  was  well  informed  on  the  subject  of 
religion  ?  Hume  always  carefully  eschewed  the 
Bible  as  a  book  unworthy  of  him.  Paine  never  read 
the  whole  Bible,  and  when  he  wrote  the  first  part 
of  his  Age  of  Reason,  he  says  he  had  not  examined 
the  Testament,  meaning,  no  doubt,  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Mr.  Gibbon,  first  a  Catholic  and  then  a 
Protestant,  and  then  an  infidel,  and  then  a  Prot- 
estant, was  as  ignorant  of  the  Bible  as  Hume  or 
Paine. 

History  does  tell  us  of  some  celebrated  infidels, 
who,  in  order  to  be  able  to  attack  Christianity  in  her 
vitals,  undertook  to  search  the  Scriptures,  and  make 
themselves  masters  of  their  doctrines.  But  so  far 
from  being  confirmed  in  infidelity,  they  were  con- 
verted through  the  truth  they  had  learned,  and 
wrote  ably  in  defence  of  Christianity.  One  of  them 
was  Gilbert  West,  whose  work  on  the  resurrection 
of  Christ  has  always  been  regarded  with  great  re- 
spect. Another  was  Lord  Lyttelton,  whose  argu- 
ment for  the  truth  of  Christianity,  drawn  from  the 
conversion  of  Saint  Paul,  remains  without  any  re- 
spectable attempt  to  answer  it.  This  gentleman, 
towards  the  close  of  his  life,  used  to  lay  his  hand 
upon  his  Bible,  and  say,  "  A  wicked  life  is  the  only 


CAUSES  OF  INFIDELITY.  55 

grand  objection  to  this  book."  It  is  also  said  of 
Soame  Jenyns,  author  of  the  able  treatise  on  the 
Internal  Evidence  of  the  Genuineness  of  the  New 
Testament,  that  he  was  in  like  manner  convinced, 
while  searching  for  arguments  to  prove  it  spurious. 
Christianity  challenges  investigation.  Nor  ought 
men  to  be  offended  at  her  demanding  that  the  in- 
vestigation be  candid  and  thorough.  To  most,  if  not 
all  modern  infidels,  who  have  attacked  Christianity, 
might  be  applied  the  cutting  advice  of  Fielding, 
who  recommends  that  before  writing  on  any  subject, 
a  man  should  gain  some  information  concerning  it. 


BAD  TEMPER  OF  INFIDELS. 

The  indulgence  of  bad  passions  on  the  whole  sub- 
ject of  religion  shuts  many  up  to  infidelity.  "  In- 
fidels," says  Cecil,  "are  loose,  fierce,  overbearing 
men.  There  is  nothing  in  them  like  sober  and  seri- 
ous inquiry.  They  are  the  wildest  fanatics  on 
earth." 

A  poet,  having  read  Paine's  Age  of  Reason,  wrote 
on  a  blank  leaf  the  following  just  though  severe 
stanza : 

"  At  every  page  divine  his  rancor  teems, 
This  hour  he  reasons,  and  the  next  blasphemes  ; 
Marking  each  text  with  a  censorious  eye, 
That  gives  his  practice,  or  his  pride,  the  lie." 

Violent  contempt  is  very  much  the  style  in  which 


56  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

infidels  have  ever  treated  the  whole  subject  of  re- 
ligion. Mr.  Jefferson,  when  writing  on  law,  and 
liberty,  and  politics,  is  calm,  serious,  dignified,  and 
very  forcible  ;  but  when  writing  on  the  subject  of 
religion,  he  never  fails  to  lose  his  temper  or  display 
his  vanity.     See  his  works. 

Infidels,  feeling  that  the  Bible  makes  war  on 
their  sinful  lusts  and  practices,  in  self-defence  make 
war  on  it ;  and  being  unable  to  conduct  the  contest 
in  manly  dignity,  they  fall  into  a  passion,  and  soon 
begin  to  rave.  Indeed,  malevolent  passions  consti- 
tute no  small  part  of  infidel  character.  Paine  was 
habitually  violent  and  ungovernable  in  his  temper. 
Slight  opposition  enraged  him.  The  same  was  true 
of  Voltaire.  Nothing  made  him  more  your  enemy 
than  a  refusal  to  flatter  his  vanity.  To  curry  favor, 
he  professed  any  thing.  "At  London  he  was  a 
Freethinker,  at  Versailles  a  Cartesian,  at  Nancy  a 
Christian,  at  Berlin  an  infidel."  The  nature  of  his 
opposition  to  Christianity  may  be  judged  by  the 
fact  that  he  often  closed  his  letters  and  notes  to  his 
friends  with  the  words,  "  Crush  the  wretch,"  mean- 
ing Jesus  Christ.  Is  it  wonderful  that  such  men 
should  reject  a  religion  whose  first  great  lesson  is, 
"  He  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted ;"  a 
religion  which  denounces  vainglory  under  the  pen- 
alty of  damnation,  and  pronounces  hatred  of  man- 
kind, or  of  the  truth,  to  be  an  infallible  mark  of 
enmity  to  God  ? 


CAUSES  OF  INFIDELITY.  57 

PRIDE. 

Pride,  especially  pride  of  learning,  has  made 
many  a  man  an  infidel.  Learning  itself,  if  sound 
and  thorough,  tends  to  correct  this  pride.  Lord 
Bacon  has  well  said,  "  It  is  an  assured  truth,  and  a 
conclusion  of  experience,  that  a  little  or  superficial 
knowledge  of  philosophy  may  incline  the  mind  of 
man  to  atheism,  but  a  farther  proceeding  therein 
doth  brin^  the  mind  back  a^ain  to  religion.  For  in 
the  entrance  of  philosophy,  when  the  second  causes, 
which  are  next  unto  the  senses,  do  offer  themselves 
to  the  mind  of  man,  if  it  dwell  and  stay  there  it  may 
induce  some  oblivion  of  the  highest  cause  ;  but  when 
a  man  passeth  on  farther,  and  seeth  the  dependence 
of  causes  and  the  works  of  Providence,  then,  ac- 
cording to  the  allegory  of  the  poets,  he  will  easily 
believe  that  the  highest  link  of  nature's  chain  must 
needs  be  tied  to  the  foot  of  Jupiter's  chair." 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  anatomy  and  astronomy, 
two  sciences  which  do  in  a  most  remarkable  manner 
prove  that  God  is,  and  that  he  is  good,  and  wise, 
and  mighty,  should,  through  the  pride  of  super- 
ficially learned  men,  have  so  often  led  to  atheism. 
The  influence  of  science  on  minds  truly  great  and 
truly  humble  has  been  exactly  the  reverse  of  this, 
of  which  Bacon  himself,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Sir 
Robert  Boyle,  John  Locke,  and  John  Milton  are 
illustrious  examples.  Because  nothing  is  more  op- 
posed to  God,  therefore  he  opposes  nothing  more 


58  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

than  pride.  "  God  resisteth  the  proud."  All  that 
knowledge  which  puffeth  up  the  mind  is  both  nar- 
row and  perverted.  But  "  God  giveth  grace  to  the 
humble."  "  The  meek  will  he  guide  in  judgment." 
There  is  as  much  propriety  as  authority  in  the  coun- 
sel, "  Let  not  the  wise  man  glory  in  his  wisdom ; 
but  let  him  that  glorieth,  glory  in  this,  that  he  un- 
derstandeth  and  knoweth  the  Lord."  In  proof  of 
the  pertinency  of  these  remarks  to  the  character  of 
infidels,  let  the  history  of  almost  any  celebrated  in- 
fidel be  examined,  especially  that  of  Hume,  Vol- 
taire, and  Gibbon.  Mr.  Hume's  philosophy  is 
known  to  have  carried  him  to  the  greatest  lengths. 
He  balked  at  nothing.  One  of  his  principles  led 
him  so  far  as  gave  just  occasion  to  a  person  to 
inscribe  on  the  circular  slab  over  his  grave  these 

lines : 

"  Beneath  this  circular  idea, 
Vulgarly  called  a  tomb, 
Impressions  and  ideas  rest, 
Which  constituted  Hume." 


SINGULARITY. 

Some  men  are  also  led  to  embrace  infidel  princi- 
ples through  an  affectation  of  singularity.  We  see 
this  cause  powerfully  at  work  among  men  in  regard 
to  dress,  equipage,  and  a  thousand  things.  Few 
things  have  a  greater  effect  on  a  part  of  our  race 
than  the  conceit  that  they  are  or  ought  to  be  dis- 


CAUSES  OF  INFIDELITY.  59 

tinguished  from  the  mass  of  mankind.  This  princi- 
ple mightily  prevailed,  both  in  Europe  and  America, 
when  French  infidelity  was  at  its  height,  and  when 
men  seemed  to  think  that  to  be  as  wicked  as  Voltaire, 
or  Paine,  or  Rousseau,  would  make  them  no  less 
distinguished.  A  man  who  will  address  mankind  in 
bold  paradox,  will  not  lack  auditors  or  admirers. 

"It  is,"  says  Burke,  "an  observation  which  I 
think  Isocrates  makes  in  one  of  his  orations  against 
the  sophists,  that  it  is  far  more  easy  to  maintain  a 
wrong  cause,  and  to  support  paradoxical  opinions 
to  the  satisfaction  of  a  common  auditory,  than  to 
establish  a  doubtful  truth  by  solid  and  conclusive 
arguments.  When  men  find  that  something  can  be 
said  in  favor  of  what,  on  the  very  proposal,  they 
have  thought  utterly  indefensible,  they  grow  doubt- 
ful of  their  own  reason;  they  are  thrown  into  a 
pleasing  surprise ;  they  run  along  with  a  speaker, 
charmed  and  captivated  to  find  such  a  plentiful  har- 
vest of  reasoning,  where  all  seemed  barren  and 
unpromising.  This  is  the  fairy  land  of  philoso- 
phy." 

To  utter  the  most  solid,  though  familiar  truths, 
is  often  the  most  tedious  employment.  But  to 
dismiss  all  tedious  common-places,  and  soar  even 
to  the  regions  of  absurdity,  is  at  least  a  bold 
enterprise,  and  attracts  attention  on  the  same  prin- 
ciples as  the  flights  of  aeronauts.  To  a  portion 
of  mankind,  hardly  any  thing  is  more  unpleasant 


60  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

than  to  conceive  of  themselves  as  being,  thinking, 
and  acting  like  their  neighbors.  All  such  are  ready 
to  be  led  captive  by  the  first  wild  theory  that  is 
presented.  Every  sober  man  has  witnessed  many 
illustrations  of  this  remark. 


HEALTH  AND  PROSPERITY. 

So  also,  a  wicked  mind  turns  every  thing  into  a 
wrong  channel,  and  perverts  every  blessing.  Thus, 
firm  health  and  the  glow  of  ardor  consequent  upon 
it,  especially  united  with  much  general  prosperity, 
make  many  a  man  an  infidel  or  an  atheist.  Dr. 
Young  somewhere  says, 

"  'Tis  health  that  keeps  the  atheist  in  the  dark, 
A  fever  argues  better  than  a  Clarke  ; 
Let  but  the  logic  in  his  pulse  decay, 
The  Grecian  he'll  renounce,  and  learn  to  pray." 

An  inspired  writer,  speaking  of  such,  says, 
"  They  are  not  in  trouble  as  other  men ;  their  eyes 
stand  out  with  fatness  ;  they  have  more  than  heart 
could  wish.  They  set  their  mouth  against  the 
heavens.  They  say,  How  doth  God  know  ?"  Ps. 
73.  So  the  "scoffers"  spoken  of  in  Scripture 
argued  that  the  world  had  stood  so  long  it  would 
stand  for  ever,  and  that  no  account  would  ever  be 
given  to  God.  "  The  wish  was  father  to  the 
thought." 


CAUSES  OF  INFIDELITY.  61 

COVETOUSNESS. 

Nor  can  it  be  denied  that  the  wicked  gains  which 
some  men  are  reaping,  much  incline  them  to  reject 
a  system  which  utters  terrible  denunciations  against 
usury,  covetousness,  fraud,  extortion,  and  all  unjust 
gain.  This  was  the  grand  objection  of  Demetrius 
and  the  other  silversmiths  mentioned  in  Acts  19: 
"This  our  craft  is  in  danger."  Men  who  are  fully 
purposed  to  acquire  wealth  by  means  which  they 
know  the  Bible  condemns,  must  be  miserable  or  re- 
nounce the  word  of  God  as  a  rule  of  life.  Thus 
men,  who  for  gain  separate  husbands  and  wives, 
parents  and  children,  brothers  and  sisters,  do  uni- 
formly in  practice,  and  generally  in  theory,  renounce 
the  Gospel.  "  They  that  will  be  rich,  fall  into  temp- 
tation and  a  snare,  and  into  many  foolish  and 
hurtful  lusts,  which  drown  men  in  destruction  and 
perdition." 

GENERAL  LICENTIOUSNESS. 

The  Bible  also  lays  the  axe  at  the  root  of  the  tree 
of  all  sinful  pleasures,  and  therefore  its  messages 
are  hated  and  opposed.  On  the  very  frontlet  of 
Christianity  is  inscribed,  "  Deny  thyself — take  thy 
cross."  Could  any  thing  be  more  repulsive  to  the 
devotee  of  carnal  delight?  Mr.  Hume  calls  self- 
denial  a  "monkish  virtue."  Emerson  and  Paine 
were  habitual  and  beastly  drunkards.  Rousseau, 
the  accomplished  Rousseau,  has  written   his  own 

RiM*  TniP.  6 


62  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

biography,  in  which  he  "  confesses  "  that  he  was 
through  life  both  a  thief  and  a  liar.  His  language 
is,  "  I  have  been  a  rogue,  and  am  so  still  sometimes 
for  trifles  which  I  had  rather  take  than  ask  for." 
For  a  "subsistence,"  at  Turin,  he  renounced  the 
Protestant  religion,  and  became,  as  he  says,  "  both 
a  dupe  and  an  apostate."  He  lived  a  life  of  infamy 
with  Madame  de  Warrens,  "finding,"  says  he,  "in 
her  all  those  ideas  I  had  occasion  for."  He  then 
lived  in  infamy  with  one,  whom  he  calls  Theresa,  and 
says  he  "  cheerfully  adopted  without  the  least  scru- 
ple," the  saying  of  one,  "  that  he  who  best  filled  the 
foundling-hospital  was  always  the  most  applauded." 
At  Geneva  he  openly  returned  to  the  profession  of 
the  Protestant  religion,  "because,"  says  he,  "I 
thought  it  was  the  exclusive  right  of  the  sovereign 
power  in  every  country  to  fix  the  mode  of  worship, 
and  these  unintelligible  opinions." 

He  subsequently  engaged  in  another  intrigue,  of 
which  he  says,  "  Guilty  without  remorse,  I  soon 
became  so  without  measure."  He  not  only  stole, 
but  on  one  occasion  laid  his  theft  to  a  female  ser- 
vant, who  thereby  lost  her  place.  Yet  so  blinded, 
so  perverted,  so  wicked  was  he,  that  he  says, 
"  Whenever  the  last  trumpet  shall  sound,  I  will  pre- 
sent myself  before  the  Sovereign  Judge  with  this 
book  ['  Confessions  of  J.  J.  Rousseau']  in  my  hand, 
and  loudly  proclaim,  Thus  have  I  acted  ;  these  were 
my  thoughts ;  such  was  I,  Power  Eternal !    Assem- 


CAUSES  OF  INFIDELITY.  63 

ble  around  thy  throne  the  innumerable  throng  of  my 
fellow-mortals.  Let  them  listen  to  my  confessions ; 
let  them  blush  at  my  depravity ;  let  them  tremble 
at  my  sufferings ;  let  each  in  his  turn  expose,  with 
equal  sincerity,  the  failings,  the  wanderings  of  his 
heart ;  and,  if  he  dare,  aver  '  I  was  better  than  that 
man.'  " 

No  wonder  that  such  men  should  reject  a  system 
which  requires  truth,  honesty,  chastity,  temperance, 
the  love  of  man,  and  the  fear  of  God. 


AMBITION. 

Nor  does  the  Christian  system  tolerate  ambition 
in  any  of  its  forms.  On  the  contrary,  it  says,  "  Seek- 
est  thou  great  things  for  thyself  ?  Seek  them  not." 
"Mind  not  high  things."  Love  not  "to  have  the 
preeminence."  "  Let  each  esteem  other  better  than 
themselves."  "In  honor,  prefer  one  another."  Mr. 
Hume's  great  objection  to  the  principles  of  Christi- 
anity is,  that  they  repress  ambition  and  produce 
moderation,  humility,  and  the  passive  virtues,  to  an 
extent  which  he  considers  undesirable.  No  doubt 
almost  the  whole  line  of  the  great  and  masculine 
virtues,  constancy,  gravity,  magnanimity,  fortitude, 
fidelity,  and  firmness,  are,  if  spurious,  closely  allied 
to  obstinacy ;  but  if  genuine  and  holy,  nothing  is 
farther  removed  from  it. 

The  Roman  governors  saw  nothing  but  "  obsti- 
nacy" in  the  holy  martyrs,  who   died  imploring 


64  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

blessings  on  their  persecutors,  but  this  was  because 
the  martyrs  had  principles  as  unknown  to  their  ene- 
mies as  to  modern  infidels.  "  The  secret  of  the  Lord 
was  with  them."  They  were  his  "  hidden  ones." 
But  "  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  neither  can  he  know  them,  because 
they  are  spiritually  discerned ;"  and  he  has  no  spir- 
itual discernment,  but  is,  as  to  holy  things,  like  a 
"  brute  beast." 


LEWDNESS  OF  INFIDELS. 

Infidels  are  often  such  because  of  the  hostility  of 
the  Christian  religion  to  every  form  of  obscenity, 
vulgarity,  and  depravity  of  manners  and  conversa- 
tion. No  wonder  that  Voltaire  was  an  infidel,  for 
even  when  writing  on  the  most  sacred  subjects,  he 
uses  the  most  coarse  and  polluted  language.  No 
man  who  has  any  regard  to  his  reputation,  would 
dare  to  read  aloud  in  company  scores  of  pages  in  his 
infidel  writings.  He  practised  the  sin  of  the  heathen 
and  of  Sodom.  No  gentleman  would  even  repeat  to 
another  many  things  found  in  the  writings  of  Paine. 


DEPRAVED  PRINCD7LES. 

The  causes  of  infidelity  in  particular  men  may 
often  be  learned  from  their  writings.  The  philo- 
sophic Hume  has  written  an  essay  asserting  one's 
right  over  his  own  life,  even  to  take  it  away  at  pleas- 
ure.   He  seems  to  be  unable  to  understand  how  it  can 


CAUSES  OF  INFIDELITY.  65 

be  any  crime  to  change  the  course  of  a  few  ounces 
of  blood.  He  has  also  written  another  essay  to 
prove  that  the  seventh  commandment  is  not  binding 
on  either  sex.  No  wise  man  will  be  surprised  to 
find  this  advocate  of  suicide  and  adultery  shockingly 
profane  in  his  correspondence  with  his  friends,  even 
with  a  clergyman.  Much  less  can  any  fail  to  see  in 
these  principles  of  his  a  sufficient  cause  for  his  infi- 
delity. 

Lord  Bolingbroke  says,  the  only  thing  which  can 
reconcile  a  man  to  any  other  state  of  marriage  than 
that  of  polygamy,  is,  that  it  is  a  mere  civil  institution, 
not  of  binding  moral  force.  Dr.  Johnson  says, 
"Chesterfield  taught  the  manners  of  a  dancing- 
master,  and  the  morals  of  a  prostitute."  Mr.  Hobbes 
maintained  that  the  law  of  the  land  "  was  the  sole 
foundation  of  right  and  wrong,  and  that  even  relig- 
ion  had  no  obligation  but  as  enjoined  by  the  mag- 
istrate:" in  other  words,  that  our  Creator  and  Pre- 
server has  not  any  right  to  control  our  actions,  unless 
his  authority  be  seconded  and  supported  by  human 
governments.  Even  Lord  Herbert,  the  most  decent 
of  all  the  English  infidels,  apologizes  for  lewdness. 
Godwin  both  defended  and  practised  lewdness.  The 
proof  of  his  guilt  is  his  own  confession. 


WANT  OF  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH. 

Christianity  declares  that  "all  liars  shall   have 
their  part  in  the  lake  that  burns  with  fire  and  brim- 

Bible  True.  6 


66  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

stone,"  and  denounces  all  insincerity  of  speech  and 
behavior.  How  troublesome  all  such  rules  must  be 
to  infidels,  may  be  judged  of  by  the  following  facts. 

Voltaire  requested  D'Alembert  to  tell  a  known 
and  palpable  falsehood,  by  denying  that  he  [Vol- 
taire] was  the  author  of  the  Philosophical  Dictionary. 
D'Alembert,  in  reply,  informed  him  that  he  had  told 
the  lie. 

Shaftsbury,  Collins,  and  Gibbon  did  not  hesitate 
to  qualify  themselves  for  office  by  partaking  of  the 
Lord's  supper  in  the  established  church  of  England, 
although  neither  of  them  believed  it  ordained  by 
God. 

The  truth  is,  that  infidels  are  not  addicted  to  mar- 
tyrdom, or  even  to  suffering  slight  civil  disabilities, 
for  the  maintenance  of  their  doctrines.  A  large 
portion  of  the  loose  infidels  of  the  days  of  Charles  II. 
had,  during  the  commonwealth,  prayed  as  long  and 
as  loud,  and  talked  as  whiningly  and  looked  as  de- 
murely as  the  fashion  of  the  times  seemed  to  demand. 
Christianity  has  poured  out  in  triumph  the  blood  of 
millions  of  her  disciples  in  attestation  of  her  divin- 
ity ;  but  infidelity  has  nothing  which  she  regards 
as  worth  bleeding  for. 

It  is  probably  a  truth,  that  the  world  has  never 
yet  seen  a  candid,  honest  infidel,  one  free  from  all 
hypocrisy.  Very  generally  they  give  the  kiss  of 
friendship  to  Christianity,  and  meanly  aim  their 
malignant  thrusts  at  her  heart. 


CAUSES  OF  INFIDELITY.  67 

Herbert  declared  that  he  had  no  intention  to 
attack  Christianity,  which  he  calls  the  best  religion. 
He  represents  it  as  the  great  design  of  the  Gospel 
to  establish  those  great  principles  in  which  he  makes 
religion  properly  to  consist. 

Hobbes  acknowledges  that  the  writings  of  the 
New  Testament  are  as  ancient  as  the  times  of  the 
apostles ;  that  they  were  written  by  persons  who 
lived  in  those  times,  some  of  whom  saw  the  things 
which  they  relate  ;  and  that  they  are  the  true  regis- 
ters of  those  things  which  were  done  and  said  by  the 
prophets  and  apostles. 

Blount  acknowledges  that  it  is  not  safe  to  trust  to 
deism  alone,  if  Christianity  be  not  joined  with  it. 
"Undoubtedly,"  says  he,  "in  our  travels  to  the 
other  world,  the  common  road  is  the  safest.  And 
though  deism  is  a  good  manuring  of  a  man's  con- 
science, yet  certainly,  if  sowed  with  Christianity,  it 
will  produce  the  most  plentiful  crop." 

Toland  says  it  was  not  his  intention  to  invalidate, 
but  to  illustrate  and  confirm  the  einon  of  the  New 
Testament. 

Shaftsbury  insisted  that  he  faithfully  embraced 
the  mysteries  of  our  holy  religion,  notwithstanding 
their  amazing  depth. 

Collins  represents  the  cause  in  which  he  was  en- 
gaged, as  the  cause  of  virtue,  learning,  truth,  God, 
religion,  and  Christianity. 

Tindal  says,  Christianity,  stripped  of  the  additions 


68  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

that  policy,  mistakes,  and  the  circumstances  of  time 
have  made  to  it,  is  a  most  holy  religion,  and  all  its 
doctrines  plainly  speak  themselves  to  be  the  will  of 
an  infinitely  wise  and  good  God. 

Morgan  speaks  of  "our  Saviours  doctrines "  as 
"  the  true  and  genuine  principles  of  nature  and  rea- 
son." He  declares,  that  "  men  ought  to  be  thankful 
for  the  light  of  the  Gospel." 

Chubb  puts  to  one  of  his  infidel  tracts  this  title, 
"  The  true  Gospel  of  Christ  asserted." 

Another  entitled  his  infidel  book,  "  Christian- 
ity as  old  as  the  Creation." 

Bolingbroke  says,  "  The  system  of  religion  which 
Christ  published,  and  his  evangelists  recorded,  is  a 
complete  system  to  all  purposes  of  religion,  natural 
and  revealed." 

Hume,  in  the  conclusion  of  his  essay  on  miracles, 
says  his  piece  "  may  serve  to  confound  those  dan- 
gerous friends,  or  disguised  enemies  of  the  Christian 
religion,  who  have  undertaken  to  defend  it  by  the 
principles  of  human  reason."  He  adds,  "  Our  most 
holy  religion  is  founded  on  faith,  and  not  on  reason." 

Gibbon  speaks  of  Christianity  as  "a  divine  reve- 
lation," and  says  its  success  was  primarily  owing  to 
the  convincing  evidence  of  the  doctrine  itself,  and  to 
the  ruling  providence  of  its  great  Author. 

Carlyle  claims  that  Christianity  stands  on  higher 
ground  than  miracles,  and  shows  great  zeal  in  the 
cause. 


INFIDELITY  WORTHLESS. 


Indeed,  time  would  fail  us  to  show  the  innumer- 
able falsehoods,  deceits,  and  instances  of  hypocrisy 
in  the  lives  and  writings  of  infidels,  even  when  acting 
most  deliberately  and  solemnly. 


GENERAL  INFERENCE. 

The  conclusion  to  which  we  come  from  such  a 
review,  is  well  expressed  by  a  writer  of  the  last  gen- 
eration :  "  Modern  unbelievers  are  deists  in  theory, 
pagans  in  inclination,  and  atheists  in  practice."  It 
has  happened  to  them  as  St.  Augustine  has  spoken 
generally :  "  He,  who  knows  what  is  right  and  does 
it  not,  loses  his  power  of  discerning  what  is  right. 
He,  who  will  not  do  right  when  he  can,  loses  his 
capacity  to  do  it  when  he  would."  Some  one  has 
truly  said,  that  if  infidels  should  retain  their  present 
inclinations,  and  should  find  that  the  demonstration 
of  the  47th  proposition  of  Euclid,  instead  of  proving 
what  it  does,  should  prove  that  men  ought  to  love 
and  obey  God,  they  would  pretend  to  find  some 
flaw  in  the  argument,  and  declare  the  reasoning  in- 
conclusive. All  history,  bearing  on  the  subject, 
shows  that  this  statement  is  not  too  strong. 


INFIDELITY  WORTHLESS,  DESTRUCTIVE. 
Suppose  we  renounce  Christianity,  what  can  infi- 
delity do  for  us  ?     What  good  lessons  can  it  teach 
us  concerning  God,  the  Creator,  Preserver,  and  Bene- 


70  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

factor  of  men  ?  It  declares  none  of  his  attributes  in 
half  so  clear  and  glorious  a  manner  as  the  Bible 
does.  Concerning  some  of  them  it  is  silent.  It 
neither  asserts  nor  explains  his  perfect  universal 
government.  It  neither  travels  back  to  the  counsels 
of  eternity,  nor  down  along  the  unending  course  of 
duration.  It  can  never  determine  those  grand  con- 
troversies, on  the  right  settlement  of  which  even  the 
more  sober  heathen  philosophers  admitted  human 
happiness  to  depend.  It  neither  explains  nor  asserts 
the  reasonableness  of  the  principles  of  human  ac- 
countability. It  prescribes  none  of  the  proper  offices 
of  life,  nor  regulates  the  delicate  duties  of  society. 
Instead  of  expelling  superstition,  it  fosters  it,  as  is 
proven  by  the  history  of  every  people  who  have 
renounced  the  Bible,  in  whole  or  in  part.  It  inflames 
the  ferocious,  it  disheartens  the  timid,  it  makes  the 
wise  simple,  it  debases  the  humble,  and  exalts  the 
proud.  It  is  wholly  at  a  loss  what  to  say  about 
retribution,  but  commonly  denies  it.  It  is  cold  and 
dark,  and  cheerless  and  hopeless.  To  a  guilty  sin- 
ner it  offers  no  good  ground  of  hope  that  he  may 
obtain  pardon.  It  is  silent  about  "atoning  blood." 
It  has  no  sin-offering  in  its  creed.  In  actual  results 
in  morals,  we  have  seen  some  of  its  effects  on  men 
who  commonly  had  many  worldly  influences  to 
restrain  them  within  the  bounds  of  decency,  and  yet 
we  have  seen  them  practising  the  most  shameful 
vices,     On  the  lower  classes,  the  masses  of  men  not 


INFIDELITY  WORTHLESS.  71 

thus  restrained,  it  has,  if  possible,  a  still  more  de- 
moralizing effect. 


A  CASE. 

Mr.  Mallet,  the  infidel,  had  a  servant,  who  waited 
at  his  table,  and  there  heard,  day  after  day,  the 
dogmas  of  infidelity,  until  he  well  understood  and 
could  defend  them.  "  Being  thoroughly  convinced 
that  for  any  of  his  misdeeds  he  should  have  no 
after-account  to  make,  he  was  resolved  to  profit 
by  the  doctrine,  and  made  off  with  many  things 
of  value,  particularly  the  plate.  He  was,  however, 
so  closely  pursued,  that  he  was  brought  back  with 
his  prey  to  his  master's  house,  who  examined  him 
before  some  select  friends.  At  first,  the  man  was 
sullen,  and  would  answer  no  questions ;  but  being 
urged  to  give  a  reason  for  his  infamous  behavior,  he 
resolutely  said,  '  I  had  heard  you  so  often  talk  of 
the  impossibility  of  a  future  state,  and  that  after 
death  there  was  no  reward  for  virtue,  nor  punish- 
ment for  vice,  that  I  was  tempted  to  commit  the 
robbery.'  '  Well,  but,  you  rascal,'  replied  Mallet, 
'had  you  no  fear  of  the  gallows?'  '  Sir,'  said  he, 
looking  sternly  at  his  master,  '  what  is  that  to  you  ? 
If  I  had  a  mind  to  venture  that,  you  had  removed 
my  greatest  terror :  why  should  I  fear  the  least?'  " 

Every  experiment  yet  made  on  the  pure  princi- 
ples of  infidelity  has  proved  a  failure.  Robert  Dale 
Owen  with  his  "  Harmony  Society,"  and  Dr.  Cooper 


72  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

with  the  college  of  South  Carolina,  were  but  sam- 
ples of  what  the  world  has  ever  seen  when  men  have 
esteemed  themselves  wiser  than  God.  Jannes  and 
Jambres,  the  leading  magicians  of  Egypt,  seemed 
for  a  little  time  to  be  able  to  withstand  Moses ;  but 
ere  long  "  their  folly  was  manifest." 


FRANCE. 

The  experiment  made  in  France,  near  the  close  of 
the  last  century,  ought  to  have  succeeded,  if  any 
trial  of  infidelity  could  result  in  aught  but  shame. 
France  was  the  fairest  portion  of  Europe.  Science 
nourished  astonishingly.  The  leaders  were  men  of 
prodigious  talents.  Christianity  was  abolished. 
The  Sabbath  was  set  aside.  Infidelity  stood  forth 
alone,  wielding  the  sceptre  over  thirty  millions.  The 
glorious  age  and  reign  of  reason  was  announced  to 
mankind.  The  millennium  of  philosophy  was  said 
to  have  commenced.  The  first  thing  done  by  the 
great  nation  was  to  prostitute  her  virtue,  the  second 
was  to  abandon  every  measure  that  could  promote 
her  well-being.  Then  every  fastness  of  society  gave 
way,  and  France  "got  drunk  on  blood  to  vomit 
crime."  The  voice  of  law  was  drowned  by  the 
screams  of  brutal  men  and  more  brutal  women, 
clamoring  for  vengeance.  The  reign  of  reason  be- 
came the  reign  of  terror.  To  terror  succeeded  hor- 
ror, and  to  horror  desperation  and  madness.  The 
whole  experiment  was  on  the  greatest  scale,  and 


INFIDELITY  WORTHLESS.  73 

brought  forth  the  most  appalling  results.  The  les- 
son was  to  mankind.  Let  him  that  readeth  under- 
stand. Nor  is  there  in  any  correct  history  any  ac- 
count of  a  successful  experiment  made  on  purely 
infidel  principles.  There  can  be  none  such,  any  more 
than  there  can  be  good  health  in  a  community,  in 
which  the  plague  is  raging. 


DEATHS  OF  INFIDELS. 

No  man  has  any  more  strength,  no  principle  has 
any  more  value  than  a  fair  trial  evinces.  Infidelity 
has  always  failed  to  give  support  in  the  hour  of 
darkness. 

When  Mr.  Hobbes  was  alone,  he  was  haunted 
with  the  most  tormenting  reflections,  and  if,  on 
awaking  in  the  night,  he  found  his  candle  gone  out, 
he  expressed  great  terror.  He  could  not  bear  any 
discourse  on  death.  It  seemed  to  him  a  most  un- 
welcome subject.  As  death  approached,  he  con- 
fessed that  he  "was  about  to  take  a  leap  in  the 
dark." 

When  Yolney  was  caught  in  a  dreadful  storm  on 
one  of  our  lakes,  he  was  among  the  first  to  give 
signs  of  alarm,  and  to  fall  on  his  knees ;  yet  when 
the  storm  was  over,  he  meanly  said,  in  excuse  of 
his  prayers,  that  his  mother  had  put  some  notions 
into  his  head  that  he  could  not  get  rid  of. 

Voltaire,  the  great  apostle  of  modern  infidelity, 
when  he  came  to  die,  was  in  the  greatest  horror. 


74  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

When  the  physician  came,  he  exclaimed,  "I  am 
abandoned  by  God  and  man.  Doctor,  I  will  give 
you  half  of  what  I  am  worth,  if  you  will  give  me 
six  months."  The  physician  replied,  "  Sir,  you 
cannot  live  six  weeks."  Voltaire  answered,  "Then 
I  shall  go  to  hell,  and  you  will  go  with  me,"  and 
soon  after  expired. 

Diderot  and  D'Alembert  died  hardly,  if  at  all, 
less  terribly.  Paine's  latter  end  was  full  of  misery. 
He  alternately  cursed  God,  and  prayed  to  Jesus 
Christ  for  "help."  Emerson,  towards  the  close  of 
his  life,  crawled  about  the  floor,  at  one  time  praying, 
and  at  another  swearing.  Newport's  last  words 
were,  "  Oh,  the  insufferable  pangs  of  hell  and  dam- 
nation." 

Many  have  died  in  our  own  country,  but  none  of 
them  pleasantly,  most  of  them  terribly.  Dr.  Cooper, 
in  a  letter  written  shortly  before  his  death,  says, 
"  My  shortness  of  breath  is  not  now  distressing ;  my 
legs  swell  painfully  by  bedtime.  I  walk  with  some 
difficulty  from  one  room  to  the  opposite.  It  is  pos- 
sible I  may  live  over  this  spring.  I  greatly  disap- 
prove of  all  kinds  of  clerical  religion,  as  I  do  of  the 
whole  clerical  body  everywhere.  Of  a  future  state 
I  have  no  evidence.  Knowing,  therefore,  nothing 
about  it,  I  shall  die  believing  nothing,  hoping  nothing, 
fearing  nothing,  caring  nothing."  I  suppose  this 
is  as  near  an  approach  to  a  tolerable  death  as  the 
annals  of  infidelity  afford.     Yet,  by  his  own  confes- 


INFIDELITY  WORTHLESS.  75 

sion,  he  had  "no  hope  in  his  death."  It  seems,  too, 
that  like  the  timid  boy  walking  by  a  graveyard,  who 
whistles  to  keep  his  courage  up,  so  the  doctor  was 
not  satisfied  with  "  caring  nothing  about  a  future 
state,"  but  he  must  say  so  to  encourage  his  indiffer- 
ence. 

Some  may  say,  however,  that  Hume  "  died  like 
a  philosopher."  On  this  subject  it  is  proper  to  say, 
that  Adam  Smith's  account  of  that  matter  differs 
very  widely  from  that  of  the  very  respectable  female 
who  waited  on  him,  and  who  had  a  far  better  oppor- 
tunity of  observing  the  state  of  his  mind  in  his  last 
days  than  any  one  else.  But  admit  Dr.  Smith's 
account  to  be  true,  is  it  dying  like  a  philosopher  to 
play  at  cards  and  crack  jokes  about  Charon  and  his 
boat  as  one  is  about  to  enter  eternity  ?  If  so,  rather 
let  me  die  on  a  gibbet,  in  penitence  for  my  sins. 
Even  if  death  be  esteemed  an  eternal  sleep,  surely 
it  is  too  solemn  a  sleep  to  laugh  about  at  any  time, 
and  especially  as  one  is  about  to  fall  into  it.  Dr. 
Johnson  correctly  says  of  Mr.  Hume,  "Here  was  a 
man  who  had  been  at  no  pains  to  inquire  into  the 
truth  of  religion,  and  had  continually  turned  his 
mind  the  other  way.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that 
the  prospect  of  death  should  alter  his  way  of  think- 
ing, unless  God  should  send  an  angel  to  set  him 
right.     He  had  a  vanity  in  being  thought  easy." 

The  poet  Montgomery  has  well  described  the 
dying  sceptic  and  the  dying  Christian. 


76  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 


THE  DYING  SCEPTIC. 


Lo  there,  in  yonder  fancy-haunted  room, 

What  muttered  curses  tremble  through  the  gloom, 

When  pale,  and  shivering,  and  bedewed  with  fear, 

The  dying  sceptic  felt  his  hour  drew  near  ; 

From  his  parched  tongue  no  meek  hosanna  fell, 

No  bright  hope  kindled  at  his  faint  farewell  : 

As  the  last  throes  of  death  convulsed  his  cheek, 

He  gnashed,  and  scowled,  and  raised  a  hideous  shriek, 

Rounded  his  eyes  into  a  ghastly  glare, 

Locked  his  white  lips — and  all  was  mute  despair. 


THE  DYING  CHRISTIAN. 

Go,  child  of  darkness  !  see  a  Christian  die  ! 
No  horror  pales  his  lips,  or  dims  his  eye  ; 
No  fiend-shaped  phantoms  of  destruction  start 
The  hope  religion  pillows  on  his  heart, 
When  with  a  faltering  hand  he  waves  adieu 
To  all  who  love  so  well,  and  weep  so  true  : 
Meek,  as  an  infant  to  the  mother's  breast 
Turns,  fondly  longing  for  its  wonted  rest, 
He  pants  for  where  congenial  spirits  stray, 
Turns  to  his  God,  and  sighs  his  soul  away. 

The  infidel  system,  so  full  of  darkness,  guilt,  and 
misery,  so  destitute  of  purity  in  life  or  hope  in 
death,  cannot  proceed  from  a  God  of  truth,  of  good- 
ness, of  holiness,  of  justice,  and  of  mercy.  Nor 
can  it  be  pleasing  to  him.  It  is  a  system  of  malig- 
nant doctrines,  malignant  practices,  and  malignant 
results. 


REMARKS.  77 

REMARKS. 

1.  If  the  Bible  be  true,  it  is  awfully  so  to  the 
wicked.  Its  truths  are  not  to  be  trifled  with,  made 
a  jest  of,  held  in  unrighteousness  of  life,  or  coldly 
received.  It  is  no  objection  to  Christianity  that  its 
consistent  professors  are  solemn  and  in  earnest.  It 
is  to  the  disgrace  of  infidelity  that  its  professors  in- 
dulge levity  in  nothing  more  than  on  sacred  subjects. 

2.  If  the  Bible  be  true,  it  is,  to  the  humble,  good 
man,  delightfully  so.  If  it  has  a  rod  laid  up  for  the 
indolent,  it  has  also  manna  laid  up  for  the  hungry. 
If  it  turns  a  dark  side  towards  the  wicked,  it  turns 
a  very  bright  side  towards  the  pious.  Its  promises 
are  as  brilliant  as  its  threatenings  are  terrible.  Let 
the  people  of  God  shout  aloud  for  joy,  for  "  all  the 
promises  do  travail,"  and  their  redemption  draw- 
eth  nio-h.     Let  the  inhabitant  of  this  rock  of  truth 

o 

sing. 

3.  In  view  of  all  these  things,  it  is  not  uncharita- 
ble to  believe  infidels  in  Christian  countries  to  be, 
on  the  subject  of  religion,  uncandid  while  indulging 
opposition  to  Christianity.  By  word  and  deed  they 
have  often  confessed  as  much.  Colonel  Ethan  Allen 
of  New  England,  was  an  officer  in  the  war  of  Amer- 
ican Independence.  He  was  brave,  he  was  patri- 
otic, he  was  gifted,  he  was  an  infidel.  Having 
fought  the  enemies  of  his  country,  he  made  war  on 
the  Lamb,  and  wrote  with  much  subtlety  a  work 


78  THE  BIBLE  TRUE. 

against  Christianity.  He  was  also  a  husband  and  a 
father.  In  the  course  of  time  an  interesting  daugh- 
ter was  taken  sick.  It  soon  became  apparent  to  her 
physician,  her  parents,  and  herself,  that  she  had 
but  a  short  time  to  live.  In  these  solemn  circum- 
stances she  made  an  appeal  to  her  father,  an  infidel, 
and  to  her  mother,  a  Christian,  not  to  deceive  her, 
but  to  tell  her  whether  she  should  believe  the  infi- 
del or  the  Christian  system.  The  mother,  from 
emotion  or  from  prudence,  was  silent.  In  the  father, 
parental  love  gained  the  ascendency  over  infidel 
passion  and  prejudice,  and  he  said,  "  My  daughter, 
believe  your  mother.     She  has  told  you  the  truth." 

Jesus  Christ  gave  a  righteous  judgment,  when  he 
said  that  infidels  in  all  places  where  the  Gospel  was 
made  known,  should  finally  be  judged  and  their 
destinies  determined  according  to  the  standard  which 
they  reject,  because  they  had  no  good  reason  for 
rejecting  it.  "  He  that  rejecteth  me,  and  receiveth 
not  my  words,  hath  one  that  judgeth  him :  the 
word  that  I  have  spoken,  the  same  shall  judge  him 
in  the  last  day."     John  12  :  48. 

4.  Let  Christians,  as  they  have  opportunity,  in- 
form themselves  on  the  subject  of  the  truth  of 
Christianity.  Let  them  be  able  to  show  that  they 
"have  not  followed  cunningly  devised  fables."  Let 
them  read  and  study  both  the  Bible  and  the  evi- 
dences of  Christianity,  not  that  they  may  become 
fiery  disputants,  but  that  they  may  be  ready  with 


REMARKS.  79 

meekness  of  wisdom  to  "  give  a  reason  of  the  hope 
that  is  in  them." 

5.  Especially,  let  all  who  love  the  truth  live  ac- 
cording to  it,  and  by  "  well-doing  put  to  silence  the 
ignorance  of  foolish  men."  By  humility,  by  kind- 
ness, by  forgiveness  of  injuries,  by  courage  under 
trials,  by  charity,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  can  be 
proven  now  as  in  former  times,  that  the  Gospel  is 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.  Something  like 
a  show  of  answer  may  be  given  to  all  the  evidences 
adduced  in  favor  of  the  truth  of  the  Bible ;  but  in- 
fidels commonly  find  it  very  difficult  to  satisfy  them- 
selves with  their  answers  to  the  argument  drawn 
from  the  present  evidence  of  a  holy  life  and  blame- 
less conversation  in  God's  people. 


PUBLICATIONS 


AMERICAN   TRACT    SOCIETY 


These  works  are  not  exceeded  in  high  evangelical  charac- 
ter, spiritual  power,  and  practical  worth,  by  any  spiritual  col- 
lection in  any  language.  They  have  been  carefully  selected 
for  the  great  body  of  intelligent  readers  throughout  the  coun- 
try, and  the  most  watchful  parent  may  supply  them  to  his  fam- 
ily or  to  others,  not  only  with  safety  to  their  best  and  eternal 
interests,  but  with  hope  of  the  richest  spiritual  blessings. 

D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Re- 
formation. A  new  translation, 
revised  by  the  author,  in  four  vol- 
umes 12mo,  with  portraits.  Price 
SI  75  extra  cloth. 

Baxter's  Saints'  Everlasting 
Rest,  12mo,  in  large  type  ;  also 
18mo. 

Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress, 
12mo,  in  large  type,  and  18mo.  Both 
editions  neatly  illustrated. 

Jay's  Morning  Exercises. 

Mason's  Spiritual  Treasury,  for 
every  day  in  the  year.  Terse,  pithy, 
and  evangelical. 

Flavel's  Fountain  of  Life,  or  Re- 
demption provided. 

Flavel's  Method  of  Grace,  or  Re- 
demption applied  to  the  Souls  of 
Men. 

Bishop  Hall's  Scripture  Histo- 
ry, or  Contemplations  on  the  His- 
torical Passages  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments. 

Bishop  Hopkins  on  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments. Two  standard  works 
of  the  times  of  Baxter. 

President  Edwards'  Thoughts 
on  Revivals. 

Venn's  Complete  Duty  of  Man. 

Owen  on  Forgiveness,  or  Psalm 
cxxx. 

Gregory's  (Olinthus,  LL.D.)  Ev- 
idences of  Christianity. 


Paley's  Natural  Theology. 

Dr.  Spring's  Bible  not  of  Man. 
or  the  Argument  for  the  Divine 
Origin  of  the  Scriptures  drawn 
from  the  Scriptures  themselves. 

Nelson's  Cause  and  Cure  of  In- 
fidelity. 

Memoir  of  Mrs.  Isabella  Gra- 
ham. A  new  and  standard  edi- 
tion. 

Memoir  of  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Hunt- 
ington Smith. 

Sacred  Songs  for  Family  and 
Social  Worship.  Hymns  and 
Tunes — with  a  separate  edition  in 
patent  notes.  Also,  the  Hymns 
separately. 

Doddridge's  Rise  and  Progress 
of  Religion  in  the  Soul. 

Edwards'  History  of  Redemp- 
tion. 

Volume  on  Infidelity,  comprising 
five  standard  treatises  :  Soaine  Jen- 
vns  on  the  Internal  Evidence  ;  Les- 
lie's Method  with  Deists ;  Little- 
ton's Conversion  of  Paul ;  Watson's 
Reply  to  Gibbon  and  Paine. 

Pike's  Persuasives  to  Early  Pi- 
ety. 

Pike's  Guide  to  Young  Disciples. 

Anecdotes  for  the  Family  and 
the  Social  Circle. 

Universalism  not  of  God. 

Dibble's  Thoughts  on  Missions. 


ELEGANT   PRACTICAL  WORKS. 


Wilberforce's  Practical  View. 
Hannah  More's  Practical  Piety. 
James'  Anxious  Inquirer. 
Jay's  Christian  Contemplated. 
Elijah  the  Tishbite. 
Xevins'  Practical  Thoughts. 
Melvill's    Bible   Thoughts,   se- 
lected by  late  Rev.  Dr.  Milnor. 


Harris'  Mammon. 
Gurney's  Love  to  God. 
Foster's  Appeal  to  the  Young 
Abbott's  Young  Christian. 
Abbott's  Mother  at  Home. 
Abbott's  Child  at  Home. 
James'  Young  Man  from  Home. 


CHRISTIAN    MEMOIRS. 


Rev.  Claudius  Buchanan,  LL.D., 
including  his  Christian  Researches 
in  Asia. 

Rev.  John  Newton. 

Rev.  Henry  Martyn. 

Rev.  David  Brainerd. 

Rev.  Edward  Payson,  D.  D. 

Harriet  L.  Winslow,  Missionary 
in  India. 

James  Brainerd  Taylor. 


Harlan  Page. 

Normand  Smith. 

Richard  Baxter. 

Archbishop  Leighton. 

Matthew  Henry. 

Rev.  C.  P.  Schwartz,  Missionary 

to  India. 
Rev.  Samuel  Pearce. 
Rev.  Samuel  Kilpin. 
Hannah  Hobbie. 


OTHER  SPIRITUAL  WORKS. 


Edwards  on  the  Affections. 

Baxter's  Call  to  the  Uncon- 
verted. 

Alleine's  Alarm  to  the  Uncon- 
verted. 

Flavel's  Touchstone. 

Flavel  on  Keeping  the  Heart. 

Helffenstein's  Self-Deception. 

Pike's  Relig.  and  Eternal  Life. 


Sherman's  Guide  to  an  Acquaint- 
ance with  God. 

Baxter's  Dy'ing  Thoughts. 

Matthew  Henry  on  Meekness. 

Andrew  Fuller's  Backslider. 

Scudder's  Redeemer's  Last  Com- 
mand. 

Scudder's  Appeal  to  Mothers. 

Burder's  Sermons  to  the  Aged. 


MISCELLANEOUS  WORKS, 


Bogue's  Evidences  of  Christ'y. 
Keith's  Evidence  of  Prophecy. 
Morison's    Counsels   to    Young 

Men. 
The  Reformation  in  Europe. 
\evins'  Thoughts  on  Popery. 
Spirit  of  Popery,  [with  12  engs.] 


The  Colporteur  and  Roman  Ca- 
tholic. 

Mason  on  Self-Knowledge. 

Beecher  on  Intemperance. 

Raising  of  Lazarus  from  the 
Dead. 

Hymns  for  Social  Worship. 


POCKET  MANUALS. 


Clarke's  Scripture  Promises. 
The  Book  of  Psalms. 
The  Book  of  Proverbs. 
Daily  Scripture  Expositor. 
Gems  of  Sacred  Poetry. 
Bean  and  Venn's   Advice    to 

Married  Couple. 
Reasons  of  Repose. 
Daily  Food  for  Christians. 


Heavenly  Manna. 

Cecil    and    Flavel's    Gift    for 

Mourners. 
Daily  Texts. 

Diary,  [Daily  Texts  interleaved.] 
Crumbs  from  the  Master's  Ta 

BLE. 

Milk  for  Babes. 
Dew-Drops. 


BOOKS  FOR  THE  YOUNG. 


MANY  OF  THEM  BEAUTIFULLY  ILLUSTRATED  WITH  ENGRAVINGS. 


Gallaudet's  Script.  Biography, 
?  vols.,  from  Adam  to  David. 

Gallaudet's  Youth's  Book  of 
Natural  Theology. 

Child's  Book  ox  Repentance. 

Peep  of  Day. 

Line  upon  Line. 

Precept  upon  Precept. 

Amelia,  the  Pastor's  Daughter. 

Trees,  Fruits,  and  Flowers  of 
the  Bible,  [9  cuts.] 

Elizabeth  Bales.  By  John  Angell 
James. 

Emily  Maria. 

Newton's  Letters  to  an  Adopt- 
ed Daughter. 

Child's  Book  on  the  Sabbath. 

Nathan  W.  Dickerman. 

Mary  Lothrop. 

John  Mooney  Mead. 


Henry  Obookiah. 

Caroline  Hyde. 

Gallaudet's  Life  of  Josiah. 

The  Dairyman's  Daughter,  etc. 

Charles  L.  Winslow. 

Withered  Branch  Revived. 

Peet's  Scripture  Lessons. 

Child's  Book  of  Bible  Stories. 

Children  of  the  Bible. 

Amos  Armfield,  or  the  Leather- 
covered  Bible. 

The  Child's  Hymn-Book.  Select- 
ed by  Miss  Caulkins. 

Scripture  Animals,  [16  cuts.] 

Letters  to  Little  Children, 
[13  cuts.] 

Pictorial  Tract  Primer. 

Watts'  Divine  and  Moral  Songs. 

With  numerous  similar  works. 


ALSO— 


Dr.  Edwards'  Sabbath  Manual, 
Parts  1,  2,  3,  and  4. 

Dr.  Edwards'  Temperance  Man- 
ual. 


In  German— 31  vols,  various  sizes. 
In  French — 12  volumes. 
In   Welsh — Pilgrim's  Progress   and 
Baxter's  Saints'  Rest  and  Call. 


Also,  upwards  of  1,000  Tracts  and  Children's  Tracts,  separate,  bound,  or 
in  packets,  adapted  for  convenient  sale  by  merchants  and  traders,  many  of 
them  with  beautiful  engravings — in  English,  German,  French,  Spanish,  Por- 
tuguese, Italian,  Dutch,  Danish,  Swedish,  and  Welsh. 


2^°  It  is  the  design  of  the  Society  to  issue  all  its  publications  in  good  type, 
for  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich  ;  and  to  sell  them,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  at 
cost,  that  the  Society  may  neither  sustain  loss  nor  make  a  profit  by  all  its 
sales. 


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